LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Shelf _..L.aiOil^. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



fLt> i\ V&^b 



THEOliY A^D PRACTICE 



OF 



TEACHING: 



THE MOTIVES AND METHODS 



GOOD SCHOOL-KEEPING. 



/ 



BY DAVID P. PAGE, A.M. 

uATB PBtNOIPAL OF THB 8TA.TK NOEMAL SCHOOL, ALBANY, NBW YOBll, 



TO WHICH IS ADDED 

a BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR 



I FEB 21 1885 1) 



A. S. BARNES & COMPANY, 

NEW YORK, AND CHICAGO. 



\ 






Copyright, 1885, by A. S. Barnes b' Co. 



PREFACE. 



Many a meritorious book has failed to find 
readers by reason of a toilsome preface. If 
the following volume meets a similar fate, what- 
ever its merits, it shall lack a like excuse. 

This work has had its origin in a desire 
to contribute something toward elevating an 
important and rising profession. Its matter 
comprises the substance of a part of the course 
of lectures addressed to the classes of the In- 
stitution under my charge, during the past two 
years. Those lectures, unwritten at first, were 
delivered in a familiar, colloquial style, — their 
main object being the inculcation of such 
practical views as would best promote the 
improvement of the teacher. In writing the 
matter out for the press, the same style, to con- 
siderable extent, has been retained, — as I have 
written with an aim at usefulness rather than 
rhetorical effect. 

If the term theory in the title suggests to 
any mind the bad sense sometimes conveyed 



PREFACE. 



by that word, 1 would simply saj, that 1 lia^e 
not been dealing in the speculative dreams of 
the closet, but in convictions derived from the 
realities of the schoolroom during some twenty 
years of actual service as a teacher. Theory 
may justly mean the science distinguished from 
the art of Teaching, — but as in practice these 
should never be divorced, so in the following 
chapters I have endeavored constantly to illus- 
trate the one by the other. 

If life should be spared and other circum- 
stances should warrant the undertaking, per- 
haps a further course comprising the Details 
of Teaching may, at some future time, assume 
a similar form to complete my original design, 



David p. Page, 

Albany, N Y., Jan, 1, 1S47. 



State Normal School, > 

r. I 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 
Thb Spirit or the Teacher 9 



CHAPTER n. 

RESF0N8{BiLIT7 OF THE Te ACHER l4 

Section I. — The Neglected Tree 14 

Section II. — Extent of Responsibility 18 

Section III. — The Auburn Prison ^4 

CHAPTER III. 

Habits of the Teacher .« 39 

CHAPTER IV. 

fiiTERARV Qualifications of the Teaches 48 

CHAPTER V. 

Right Views of Education , 66 

CHAPTER VI. 

Right Modes of Teaching T5 

Section I. — Pouriug-in Process 77 

Section IL — Drawing-out Process 79 

Section III. — The more excellent Way 84 

Section IV. — ^Waking up Mind 86 

Section V. — Remarks 9P 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 

PAOB 

Conducting Recitations 1^3 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Exciting AN Interest IN Study , llS 

Section I. — Incentives . . . Emulation 120 

Section II. — Prizes and Rewards 127 

Section III. — Proper Incentives 139 

CHAPTER IX. 

School Government 148 

Section I. — Requisites in the Teacher for Government 148 

Section II. — Means of securing Good Order 159 

Section III.— Punishments . ; . Improper . . . Proper. . . 176 

Section IV. — Corporal Punishment 194 

Section V, — Limititions and Suggestions 207 

CHAPTER X. 

School Arrangements 216 

Section I.— Plan of Day's Work 222 

Section II. — Interruptions 232 

Section III, — Recesses 236 

Section IV. — Assignment of Lessons 239 

Section V. — Reviews 241 

Section VI. — Examinations . Exhibitions... Celebra- 
tions 243 

CHAPTER XI. 
Thb Teacher's Relation to the Parents or his Pupils. 24^ 



CONTENTS. 7 



CHAPTER XII. 

rAOH 

Thb Teacher's Oaee of his Health 256 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The Teacher's Relation to his PEOFEShioN 270 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Miscellaneous Suggestions 292 

Section I. — Things to be avoided 292 

Section II. — Things to be performed 807 

CHAPTER XV. . 

The Rewards of the Teacher 884 

BlOOSAPHIOAL SeBTGH OF THB AUTHOB 851 



THEORY AND PRACTICl? 



OF 



TEACHING. 

CHAPTER I. 

SPIRIT OF THE TEACHER. 

Perhaps the very first question tliat the honest indi- 
vidual will ask himself, as he proposes to assume the 
teacher's office, or to enter upon a preparation for it, will 
be — *' What manner of spirit am I of?" No question 
can be more important. I would by no means under 
value that degree of natural talent — of mental power, 
which all justly consider so desirable in the candidate 
for the teacher's office. But the true spirit of the 
teacher, — a spirit that seeks not alone pecuniary emol- 
ument, but desires to be in the highest degree useful 
to those who are to be taught ; a spirit that elevates 
above every thing else the nature and capabilities of 
the human soul, and that trembles under ihe responsi- 
bility of attempting to be its educator ; a spirit that 
looks upon gold as the contemptible dross of earth, 
when compared with that imperishable gem which is 
to be pohshed and brought out into heaven's light to 
shine forever ; a spirit that scorns all the rewards of 



10 SPIRIT OF THE TEACHER. 



True spirit— Motives often wrong. 



earth, and seeks that highest of all rewards, an ap- 
proving conscience and an approving God ; a spirit 
that earnestly inquires what is right, and that dreads 
to do what is wrong ; a spirit that can recognise and 
reverence the handiwork of God in every child, ana 
that burns with the desire to be instrumental in train 
ing it to the highest attainment of which it is capable, 
-such a spirit is the first thing to be sought by the 
teacher, and without it the highest talent cannot make 
him truly excellent in his profession. 

The candidate for the office of the teacher should 
look well to his motives. It is easy to enter upon the 
duties of the teacher without preparation ; it is easy to 
do it without that lofty purpose which an enlightened 
conscience would ever demand ; but it is not so easy 
to undo the mischief which a single mistake may pro- 
duce in the mind of the child, at that tender period 
when mistakes are most likely to be made. 

Too many teachers are found in our schools without 
the spirit for their work which is here insisted on. They 
not only have not given attention to any preparation for 
their work, but resort to it from motives of persona) 
convenience, and in many instances from a conscious 
ness of being unfit for every thing else ! In other 
professions this is not so. The lawyer is not admitted 
to the bar till he has pursued a course of thorougli 
preparation, and even then but warily employed. The 
physician goes through his course of reading and his 
course of lectures and often almost through a course 
of starvation in the country village where he first puts 



SPIRIT OF THE TEACHER. 11 



Preparation neglected. 



ap bis sign, before be is called in to beal the maladies 
of tbe body. It is long before he can inspire confi- 
dence enough in the people to be intrusted with their 
most difficult cases of ailing, and very likely the noon 
of life is passed before he can consider himself estab 
lished. But it is not so with the teacher. He gains 
access to the sanctuary of mind without any difficulty, 
ind the most tender interests for both worlds are jn- 
irusted to his guidance, even when he makes preten- 
sion to no higher motive than that of filling up a few 
months of time not otherwise appropriated, and to no 
qualifications but those attained by accident. A late 
writer in the Journal of Education hardly overstates 
this matter : — " Every stripling who has passed four 
years within the walls of a college ; every dissatisfied 
clerk, who has not ability enough to manage the tri- 
fling concerns of a common retail shop ; every young 
farmer who obtains in the winter a short vacation 
from the toils of summer, — in short, every young 
person who is conscious of his imbecility in other 
business, esteems hiniself fully competent to train the 
ignorance and weakness of infancy into all the virtue 
and power and wisdom of maturer years, — to form a 
creature, the frailest and feeblest that heaven has made, 
into the intelligent and fearless sovereign of the whole 
animated creation, the interpreter and adorer and al 
most the representative of Divinity !" 

Many there are who enter upon the high employ 
ment of teaching a common school as a secondary 
object. Perhaps they are students themselves in some 



12 SPIRIT OF THE TEACHER. 

Teaching a secondary object. — Ignorance does not excasP, 

higher institution, and resort to this as a temporary 
expedient for paying their board, while their chief 
object is, to pursue their own studies and thus keep 
pace with their classes. Some make it a stepping- 
stone to something beyond, and, in their estimation, 
higher in the scale of respectability, — treating the 
employment, while in it, as irksome in the extreme, 
and never manifesting so much delight as when the 
hour arrives for the dismissal of their schools. Such 
have not the true spirit of the teacher; and if their 
kbors are not entirely unprofitable, it only proves that 
children are sometimes submitted to imminent danger, 
but are still unaccountably preserved by the hand of 
Providence. 

The teacher should go to his duty full of his work. 
He should be impressed with its overwhelming im 
portance. He should feel that his mistakes, though 
they may not speedily ruin him, may permanently 
mjure his pupils. Nor is it enough that he shall say 
" I did it ignorantly." He has assumed to fill a place 
where ignorance itself is sin ; and where indifference 
to the well-being of others is equivalent to willful 
homicide. He might as innocently assume to be the 
physician, and, without knowing its effects, prescribe 
arsenic for the colic. Ignorance is not in such cases 
a valid excuse, because the assumption of the place 
implies a pretension to the requisite skill. Let the 
teacher, then, well consider what manner of spirit he 
is of. Let him come to this work only when he has 
carefully pondered its nature and its respunsibiliticB, 



SPIRIT OF THE TEACHER. 13 



Dangerous to misiead mind 



and after he has devoted his best powers to a thorough 
preparation of himself for its high duties. Above all, 
let him be sure that his motives on entering the school- 
room are such as will be acceptable in the sight of 
God, when viewed by the light beaming out from hi? 
throne. 

•* Oh ! let not then nnskillful hands attempt 
To play the harp whoee tones, whose living UxseE 
Are left forever in the strings. Better far 
That heaven's liglitnings blast his verj"- soul, 
And sink it back to Cliaos' lowest depths, 
Thoa Jtnowingly, by word or deed, he seed 
A bliAht upon the trusting mind of youth. 



14 IlESrONSIBlHTY OF THE TEAGIIEK. 



A garden.— Flowers. —Fruit trees. 



CHAPTER II. 

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 



SECTION I. -A NEGLECTED PEAR-TREE 

Some years ago, while residing in the northeastern 
part of Massachusetts, I was the owner of a small 
garden. I had taken much pains to improve the con- 
dition and appearance of the place. A woodbine had 
been carefully trained upon the front of the little 
homestead ; a fragrant honeysuckle, supported by a 
trelhs, adorned the doorway ; a moss-rose, a flowering 
almond, and the lily of the valley, mingled their fra- 
grance in the breath of morn, — and never, in my esti- 
mation at least, did the sun shine upon a lovelier, 
happier spot. The morning hour was spent in "dress- 
ing and keeping" the garden. Its vines were daily 
watched and carefully trained ; its borders were free 
from weeds, and the plants expanded their leaves and 
opened their buds as if smihng at the approach of the 
morning sun. There were fruit trees, too, which had 
been brought from far, and so carefully nurtured, that 
they were covered with blossoms, filling the air with 
their fragrance and awakening the fondest hopes of an 
abundant harvest. 

In one corner of this miniature paradise there wai 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. l5 

Neglected pear-tree — Pruning commenced. 

a ho})-trellis ; and, in the midst of a bed of tansy hard 
by, stood a small, knotty, crooked pear-tree. It had 
stood there I know not how long. It was very dimin- 
utive in size • bat, like those cedars which one notices 
high up the mountain, just on the boundary between 
vegetation and eternal frost, it had every mark of the 
decrepitude of age. 

Why should this tree stand here so unsightly and 
unfruitful ? Why had it escaped notice so long ^ Its 
bark had become hound and cracked ; its leaves were 
small and curled ; and those, small as they were, were 
ready to be devoured by a host of caterpillars, whose 
pampered bodies were already grown to the length of 
an inch. The tendrils of the hop-vine had crept about 
its thorny limbs and were weighing down its growth, 
while the tansy at its roots drank up the refreshing 
dew and shut out the genial ray. It was a neglected 
tree ! 

" Why may not this tree be pruned ?" No sooner 
said, than the small saw was taken from its place and 
the work was commenced. Commenced ? It was 
hard to determine where to commence. Its knotty 
branches had grown thick and crooked, and there was 
scarcely space to get the saw between them. They 
all seemed to deserve amputation, but then the tree 
would have no top. This and that limb were lopped 
off as the case seemed to demand. The task was 
neither easy nor pleasant. Sometimes a violent stroke 
would bring down upon my own head a shower of the 
filthy caterpillars ; again tlie long-cherished garden- 



J6 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 

Disagreeable toil. — Grafting of a Bartlet Pear.— Anxiety. 

3oat — threadbare and faded as it was — got caught, and 
before it could be disengaged, what an unsightly rent 
had been made ! With pain I toiled on, for one of 
the unlucky thorns had pierced my thumb ; and I 
might have been said to be working on the spur cf the 
occasion ! 

Tht hop-vine, however, was removed from its 
boughsj ihe tansy and weeds from its roots, the scales 
and moss from its bark. The thorns were carefully 
pared from its limbs, and the caterpillars were all 
shaken from its leaves. The mould was loosened 
and enriched, — and the sun shined that day upon a 
long neglected, but now a promising tree. 

The time for grafting was not yet passed. One re- 
putedly skilled in that art was called to put the new 
scion upon the old stock. The work was readily un- 
dertaken and speedily accomplished, and the assurance 
was given that the Bartlet Pear — that prince among 
the fruits of New England — would one day be gath 
ered from my neglected tree. 

With what interest 1 watched the buds of the scion, 
morning after morning, as the month grew warmer, 
and vegetation all around was " bursting into birth ! ' 
With what delight did I greet the first opening of 
those buds, and how did I rejoice as the young shoots 
put forth and grew into a fresh green top ! With ten 
der sohcitude I cherished this tree for two long sum- 
mers ; and on the opening of the third, my heart was 
Rladdened with the sight of its first fru"t blossoms. 
A^ith care weie the weeds excluded, the caterpillars 



RESPONSIBILITY OF TliE TEACHER. 17 

The pears ripen.— Chagrin and mortification.— A moral garden. 

exterminated, the hop-vine clipped, the bark rubbed 
and washed, the earth manured and watered. The 
time of fruit arrived. The Bartlet pear was offered in 
our market, — but my pears were not yet ripe ! With 
anxio'js care they were watched till the frost bade the 
green leaves wither, and then they were carefully gath- 
ered and placed in the sunbeams within doors. They 
at length turned yellow, and looked fair to the sight 
and temptmg to the taste ; and a few friends, who had 
known their history, were invited to partake of them. 
They were brought forward, carefully arranged in the 
best dish the humble domicil afforded, and formally 
introduced as the first fruits of the " neglected tree^ 
What was my chagrin and mortification, after all my 
pains and solicitude, after all my hopes and fond an- 
ticipations, to find they were miserable, tasteless — 
choke pears ! 

This pear-tree has put me upon thinking. It has 
suggested that there is such a thing as a moral gar- 
den, in which there may be fair flowers indeed, but 
also some neglected trees. The plants in this gar- 
den may suffer very much from neglect, — from neg- 
lect of the gardener. It is deplorable to see how 
many crooked, unseemly branches shoot forth from 
some of these young trees, which early might have 
been trained to grow straight and smooth by the hand 
of cultivation. Many a youth, running on in his own 
way, indulging in deception and profanity, yielding to 
temptation and overborne by evil influences, polluting 
by his example and wounding the hearts of his best 



18 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHEJl. 

Many neglected trees.— Infancy. 

friends as they yearn over him for good, has reminded 
me of my neglected tree, its caterpillars, its roughened 
bark, its hop-vine, its tansy bed, its cruel piercing 
thorns. And when I have seen such a youth brought 
under the influence of the educator, and have wit- 
nessed the progress he has made and the intellectual 
promise he has given, I have also thought of my neg- 
lected tree. When, too, I have followed him to the 
years of maturity, and have* found, as I have too often 
found, that he brings not forth "the peaceable fruits 
of righteousness," but that he disappoints all the 
fondly-cherished hopes of his friends — perhaps of his 
own teachers, because the best principles were not en 
grafted upon him, I again think of my neglected tree, 
and of the unskillful, perhaps dishonest gardener, who 
acted as its responsible educator. 

From the above as a text, several inferences might 
be drawn. 1. Education is necessary to develop the 
human soul. 2. Education should begin early. We 
have too many neglected trees. 3. It should be right 
education. And 4. The educator should be a safe anr' 
an honest man ; else the education may be all wrong 
— may be worse even than the neglect. 

But especially we may infer that 

SECTION II. -THE TEACHES IS RESPONSIBLE. 

It is the object of the following remarks feebly to il 
lust rate the extent of the teacher's responsibihty. It 
must all along be borne in mind that he is not alone 
responsible for the results of education. The parent 



KESPOr^SlBlLlT^S OF THE TEACHER. lU 



Extent of teacher's responsibility.— Bodily health. 

has an overwhelming responsibihty, which he can never 
part with or transfer to another while he holds the rp 
lation of parent. 

But the teacher is responsible in a very high de 
gree. An important interest is committed to his charge 
whenever a human being is placed under his guidance. 
By taking the position of the teacher, all the responsi- 
bility of the relation is voluntarily assumed ; and he is 
fearfully responsible not only for what he does, but 
also for what he neglects to do. And it is a responsi- 
bility from which he cannot escape. Even though he 
may have thoughtlessly entered upon the relation of 
teacher, without a single glance at its obligations ; or 
though, when remmded of them, he may laugh at the 
thought, and disclaim all idea of being thus seriously 
held to a fearful account, — yet still the responsibility is 
on him. Just as true as it is a great thing to guide 
the mind aright, — just as true as it is a deplorable, 
nay, fatal thing to lead it astray, so true is it that he 
who attempts the work, whether ignorant or skillful, 
whether thoughtless or serious, incurs all the responsi- 
Dility of success or failure, — a responsibility he can 
never shake off as long as the human soul is immortal, 
and men are accountable for such consequences of 
their acts as are capable of being foreseen. 

I. The teacher is in a degree responsible for the 
BODILY HEALTH of the cMld. It is well established that 
the foundation of many serious diseases is laid in the 
school-room. These diseases come sometimes from a 
neglect of exercise ; sometiires from toe long confine 



20 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 

, Laws of physicU health. — Nervous excitement. 

ment in one position, or upon one study ; sometimes 
from over-excitement and over-study ; sometimes from 
breathing bad air; sometimes from being kept tor 
warm or too cold. Now the teacher should be an in- 
telligent physiologist ; and from a knowledge of what 
the human system can bear and what it cannot, he is 
bound to be ever watchful to guard against all those 
abuses from which our children so often suffer. Es 
pecially should he be trembhngly alive to avert that 
excitability of the nervous system, the over-action of 
which is so fatal to the future happiness of the indi 
vidual.. And should he, by appealing to the most ex 
citing motives, encourage the delicate child to press on 
to grasp those subjects which are too great for its com- 
prehension, and allow it to neglect exercise in the open 
air in order to task its feverish brain in the crowded 
and badly ventilated school-room ; and then, in a few 
days, be called to look upon the languishing sufferei 
upon a bed of exhaustion and pain — perhaps a bed of 
premature death, could he say, " I am not responsi 
ble ?" Parents and teachers often err in this They 
are so eager to develop a precocious intellect, that they 
crush the casket in order to gratify a prurient desire to 
astonish the world with the brilliancy of the gem. 
Each is responsible for his share of this sin ; and the 
teacher especially, because by his education he should 
know better. 

II. The teacher is mainly responsible for the intel- 
lectual GROWTH of the child. This may be referred 
chiefly to the following heads ; — 



RESPONSIBILITY OF 'IHE TEACHER. 21 



Natural order. — Reading, &c. — Mental Arilhrnetic. 

1. The order of study. There is a natural order in 
the education of the child. The teacher should know 
ohis. If he presents the subjects out of this order, he 
IS responsible for the injury. In general, the elements 
should be taught first. Those simple branches which 
the child first comprehends, should first be presented. 
Reading, of course, must be one of the first ; though 
I think the day is not distant when an enlightened 
community will not condemn the teacher, if, while 
teaching reading, he should call the child's attention 
by oral instructions to such objects about him as he 
Lan comprehend, even though in doing this he should 
somew^hat prolong the time of learning to read. It is 
indeed of little consequence that the child should read 
words simply ; and that teacher may be viewed as 
pursuing the order of nature, who so endeavors to de- 
velop the powers of observation and comparison, that 
words when learned shall be the vehicles of ideas. 
Some further suggestions on this point will be made in 
the chapter entitled *' Waking up Mind" 

Next to Reading and its inseparable companions — 
Spelling and Defining, 1 am inclined to recommend 
the study of Mental Arithmetic. The idea of Number 
is one of the earliest in the mind of the child. He 
can be early taught to count, and quite early to per- 
form those operations which we call adding, subtract- 
ing, multiplying, and dividing. This study at first 
needs no hook. The teacher should be thoroughly 
versed in ** Colburn's Intellecta-al Arithmetic,^' or its 
equivalent, and he can find enough to interest the 



22 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 

Recitii without book.— Geography and History. 

child. When the scholar has learned to read, and has 
attained the age of six or seven, he may be allowed a 
book in preparing his lesson, but never during the 
recitation. Those who have not tried this kind ol 
mental discipline, will be astonished at the facility 
which the child acquires, for performing operations that 
often puzzle the adult. Nor is it an unimportant ac 
quisition. None can tell its value but those who have 
experienced the advantage it gives them in future 
school exercises and in business, over those who have 
never had such training. 

Geography may come next to Mental Arithmetic. 
The child should have an idea of the relations of size, 
form, and space, as well as number, before commen 
cing Geography. These, however, he acquires natu 
rally at an early age ; and very thoroughly, if the 
teacher has taken a little pains to aid him on these 
points in the earliest stages of his progress. A map 
is a picture, and hence a child welcomes it. If it can 
be a map of some familiar object, as of his school- 
room, of the school district, of his father's orchard or 
farm, it becomes an object of great interest. A map 
of his town is very desirable, also of his county and 
his own state. Further detail will be deferred here, as 
it is only intended in this place to hint, at the order of 
taking up the subjects. 

History should go hand in hand with Geography 
Perhaps no greater mistake is made than that of de 
ferring History till one of the last things in the child s 
course 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 83 

Writing.— Written Arithmetic— Composition,— Grammar. 

Writing may be early commenced with the pencil 
upon the slate, because it is a very useful exercise to 
the child in prosecuting many of his other studies. 
But writing with a pen may well be deferred till the 
child is ten years of age, when the muscles shall have 
acquired sufficient strength to grasp and guide it. 

Written Arithmetic may succeed the mental; in- 
deed, it may be practised along with it. 

Composition — perhaps by another name, as Descrip 
tion — should be early commenced and very frequently 
practised. The child can be early interested in this, 
and he probably in this way acquires a better know 
ledge of practical grammar than in any other. 

Grammar^ in my opinion, as a study, should be one 
of the last of the common school branches to be taken 
up. It requires more maturity of mind to understand 
its relations and dependencies than any other; and 
that which is taught of grammar without such an un 
derstanding, is a mere smattering of technical terms, 
by which the pupil is injured rather than improved. 
It may be said, that unless scholars commence this 
branch early, they never will have the opportunity to 
learn it. Then let it go unlearned ; for as far as I 
have seen the world, I am satisfied that this early and 
superficial teaching of a difficult subject is not only 
useless but positively injurious. How many there are 
who study grammar for years, and then are obliged to 
confess in after life, because " their speech bewrayeth" 
them, that they never understood it ! How many, 
by the too early study of an intricate branch, make 



24 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHEK. 

How to study.— Not words, but thoughts. 

themsslves think they understand it, and thus prevent 
the hope of any further advancement at the proper 
age ! Grammar, then, should not he studied too early. 
Of the manner of teaching -ill these branches, 1 shall 
have more to say in due time. At present I ha^e only 
noticed the order in which they should be taken up. 
This is a question of much consequence to the child, 
and the teacher is generally responsible for it. He 
should therefore carefully consider this matter, that he 
may be able to decide aright. 

^ 2. The manner of study. It is of quite as much 
importance how we study, as what we study. Indeed 
I have thought that much of the difference among 
men could be traced to their different habits of study, 
formed in youth. A large portion of our scholars 
study for the sake of preparing to recite the lesson 
They seem to have no idea of any object beyond 
recitation. The consequence is, they study mechan 
ically. They endeavor to remember phraseology 
rather than principles ; they study the hook, not the 
subject. Let any one enter our schools and see the 
scholars engaged in preparing their lessons. Scarcely 
one will be seen, who is not repeating over and over 
again the words of the text, as if there was a saving 
charm in repetition. Observe the same scholars at 
recitation, and it is a struggle of the memory to recall 
the forms of words. The vacant countenance too often 
indicates that they are words without meaning. This 
difficulty is very much mcreased, if the teacher is 
confined to the t3xt-book during recitation ; and par- 



EESPONSIBILxTY OF THE TEACHER. 25 



Teacher's duty.— Books but lielps.— Study objects. 

Ucularly, if he reiies mainly upon the printed questions 
so often found at the bottom of tKe page. 

The scholar should be encouiaged to studt/ the suh- 
ject ; and his book should be held merely as the in- 
strument. " Books are but helps," is a good motto 
for every student. The teacher should often tell how 
the lesson should be learned. His precept in this 
matter will often be of use Some scholars will learn 
a lesson in one tenth of the time required by others. 
Human life is too short to have any of it employed 
to disadvantage. The teacher, then, should inculcate 
such habits of study as are valuable ; and he should 
be particularly careful to break up, in the recitations, 
those habits which are so grossly mechanical. A child 
may almost be said to be educated, who has learned to 
study aright ; while one may have acquired in the me 
chanical way a great amount of knov/ledge, and yet 
have no profitaole mental discipline. 

For this dilicience in children, as well as in men, the 
teacher is more responsible than any other person 
Let him carefully consider this matter. 

3. Collateral study. Books to be sure are to be 
studied, and studied chiefly, in most of our schools. 
But there is much for the teacher to do toward the 
growth of the mind, which is not to be found in the 
school-books ; and it is the practical recogiiition of this 
fact which constitutes the great difference in teachers 
Truth, in whatever department, is open to the failhfui 
teacher. And there is such a thing, even in the pres- 
ent generation, as "opening the eyes of the blind,'' to 



26 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 

Teaching to observe. — Mind not to be crammed. 

discover things new and old, in nature, in the arts, in 
history, in the relation of things. Without diminishing, 
in the least, the progress of the young in study, their 
powers of observation may be cultivated, their percep- 
tion quickened, their relish fcr the acquisition of know- 
ledge indefinitely increased, by the instrumentality oi 
the teacher. This must of course be done adroitly. 
There is such a thing as excessively cramming the 
mind of a child, till he loathes every thing in the way 
of acquisition. There is such a thing, too, as excitir.g 
an all-pervading interest in a group of children, so that 
the scholar shall welcojne the return of school hours 
and, by his cheerful step and animated eye, as he seeks 
the school-house, disclaim, as false when applied to 
him, the language of the poet, who described the 
school-boy of his darker day, — 

" with his satchel, 
And shining morning face, creeping, like snail, 
V> nwillingly to school." 

The teacher, who is responsible for such a result, 
should take care to store his own mind with the mate- 
rial, and exercise the ingenuity, to do that which is of 
so much consequence to the scholar. The chapter on 
*' Waking up Mind" will give some further hints to 
the young teacher. 

IH. The teacher is in a degree responsible for the 

ftlOR^L TRAINING of the chUcl. 

1 .iay in a degree, because it is confessed that in 
this nridtter very much likewise depends upon pareniaJ 
tnfluencp. 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER 2*3 



Moral training neglected. — Precept. — Example, 



This education of the heart is confessedly too much 
neglected in all our schools. It has often been re 
marked that " knowledge is power," and as truly that 
"knowledge without principle to regulate it may make 
a man a powerful villain !" It is all-important that our 
youth should early receive such moral training as 
shall make it safe to give them knowledge. Very 
much of this work must devolve upon the teacher ; or 
rather, when he undertakes to teach, he assumes the 
responsibility of doing or of neglecting this work. 

The precept of the teacher may do much toward 
teaching the child his duty to God, to himself, and to 
his fellow-beings. But it is not mainly by precept 
that this is to be done. Sermons and homilies are 
but little heeded in the school-room ; and unless the 
teacher has some other mode of reaching the feelings 
and the conscience, he may despair of being success 
ful in moral training. 

The teacher should be well versed in human nature 
He should know the power of conscience and the 
means of reaching it. He should himself have deep 
principle. His example in every thing before his 
school, should be pure, flowing out from the purity 
of his soul. He should ever manifest the tenderest re 
gard to the law of right and of love. He should never 
violate his own sense of justice, nor outrage tnal of 
his pupils. Such a man teaches by his example. He 
is a " living epistle, known and read of all." He 
tf»aciies, as he goes in and out before- thf school as 
words can never tearli 



28 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 



Conscience can be cultivated. — How I 



Tilt- moral feelings of children are capable of sys- 
tematic and successful cultivation. Our muscles ac- 
quire strength by use ; it is so with our intellectual 
and moral faculties. We educate the power of calcu- 
lation by continued practice, so that the proficient adds 
the long column of figures almost with the rapidity ot 
sight, and with infallible accuracy. So with the moral 
feelings. " The more frequently we use our con 
science," says Dr. Wayland, " in judging between ac 
tions, as right and wrong, the more easily shall we 
learn to judge correctly concerning them. He who, 
before every action, will deliberately ask himself, ' K 
this right or wrong V will seldom mistake what is his 
duty. And children may do this as well as grown 
persons." Let the teacher appeal as often as may be 
to the pupil's conscience. In a thousand ways can 
this be done, and it is a duty the faithful teacher owes 
to his scholars. 

By such methods of cultivating the conscience as 
the judicious teacher may devise, and by his own pure 
example, what may he not accomplish ? If he loves 
the truth, and ever speaks the tnuh ; if he is ever 
frank and sincere ; if, in a word, he shows that he 
has a tender conscience in all things, and that he 
always refcxs to it for its approval in all his acts, — 
what an intiuence does he exert upon the impressible 
.ninds under his guidance ! How those children will 
•)Oserve his consistent course ; and, though they may 
not speak of it, how great will be its silent powei 
upon the formation of t.heir characters ! And in fuliire 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THli, TEACHER. 29 



Evil example to be dreaded. — Consequences. 

years, when they ripen into maturity, how will thej/ 
remember and bless the example they shall have founJ 
so safe and salutary. 

Responsibility in this matter cannot be avoided 
The teacher by his example does teach^ for good oi 
for evil, whether he will or not. Indifference will not 
excuse him ; for when most indifferent he is not less 
accountable. And if his example be pernicious, as 
too often even yet the example of the teacher is ; if he 
indulges in outbreaks of passion, or wanders in the 
mazes of deceitfulness ; if the blasphemous oath pol- 
lutes his tongue, or the obscene jest poisons his 
breath ; if he trifles with the feelings or the rights 
of others, and habitually violates his own conscience, 
— what a blighting influence is his for all coming 
time ! 

With all the attachment which young pupils will 
cherish even toward a bad teacher, and with all the 
confidence they will repose in him, who can describe 
the mischief which he can accomplish in one short 
term ? The school is no place for a man withoui 
principle; I repeat, the school is no place for a 
MAN WITHOUT PRINCIPLE. Let such a man seek a 
livelihood anywhere else ; or, failing to gain it bj 
Other means, let starvation seize the body, and senH 
the soul back to its Maker as it is, rather than he 
should incur the fearful guilt of poisoning youthfu. 
minds and dragging them down to his own pitiable 
level. If there can be one sin greater than another 
on which heaven frowns with more awful disnleasure 



oO KESPONSIblLITY OF THE TEACHER. 



Trample not on tht mind.— Religion our glory— our hope. 



it is that of leading the young into principles of error 
and the debasing practices of vice. 

"Oh, wo to those who trample on the mind, 
Tha- Jeathless thing ! They know not what they ao. 
Nor what they deal with. Man, perchance, may bind 
The flower his step hath bruised ; or light anew 
The torch he quenches ; or to music wind 
Again the lyre-string from his touch that flew ; — 
But for the soul, oh, tremble and beware 
To lay rude hands upon God's mysteries there !" 

Let then the teacher study well his motives when 
he enters this profession, and so let him meet his re 
spcnsibility in this matter as to secure the approval of 
his own conscience and his God. 

IV. TJie teacher is to some extent responsible foi 
the RELIGIOUS TRAINING of the young. 

We live in a Christian land. It is our glory, if not 
«ur boast, that we have descended from an ancestry 
that feared God and reverenced his word. Very justly 
we attribute our superiority as a people over those who 
•dwell in the darker portions of the world, to our purer 
.aith derived from that precious fountain of truth — the 
Bible. Very justly, too, does the true patriot and phi- 
lanthropist rely upon our faith and practice as a Chris- 
tian people for the permanence of our free institutions 
and our unequaled social privileges. 

If we are so much indebted, then, to the Christian 
religian for what we are, and so much dependent upon 
Its life-giving truths for what we may hope to be, — how 
imporrant is it that all our youth should be nurtured 
iindor its influences I! 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 31 

Avoid sectarianism.— Common ground.— Exemplified. 



When I say religious training, I do not mean sec- 
rariaiiism. hi our public schools, supported at the 
public expense, and in which the children of all de- 
nominations meet for instruction, I do not think thai 
any man has a right to crowd his own peculiar notiont^ 
of theology upon all, whether they are acceptable or 
not. Yet there is common ground which he can oc- 
cupy, and to which no reasonable man can object. 
He can teach a reverence for the Supreme Being, 
a reverence for his Holy Word, for the influences 
of his Spirit, for the character and teachings of the 
Savior, and for the momentous concerns of eter- 
nity. He can teach the evil of sin in the sight of 
God, and the awful consequences of it upon the indi- 
vidual. He can teach the duty of repentance, and the 
privilege of forgiveness. He can teach our duty to 
w^orship God, to obey his laws, to seek the guidance 
of his Spirit, and the salvation by his Son. He can 
illustrate the blessedness of the divine life, the beauty 
of holiness, and the joyful hope of heaven ; — and to 
all this no reasonable man will be found to object, sc 
long as it is done in a truly Christian spirit. 

If not in express words, most cekainly his life and 
example should teach this. Man is a religious being. 
The religious principle should be early cultivated. 
[l should be safely and carefully cultivated ; and, as 
this cultivation is too often entirely neglected by 
parents, unless it is attempted by the teacher, in many 
cases it will never be effected at all. 

Of course all those points which separate the com- 



,i2 ftESPONSIClLITY OF THE TEACHER, 

Daager of skepticisia.— Who is saffieieBt ? 

monity mto sects, must be left to the family, the sab- 
bath-school, and the polpit. The teacher is responsi- 
ble for his honesty in this matter. While he lias uo 
right to lord it OYer the private conscience of any cue 
he is iaexcusable, if, believing the great troths of the 
Bible, he puts them away as if they concerned him 
not. They should command his faith, and goirern his 
conduct ; and their claims upon the young should no! 
l>e disowned. 

At any rate, the teacher should be careful that his 
leaching and his example do not prejudice the youthful 
mind against these truths. It is a hazardous thing foj 
a man to be skeptical by himself, even when he locke 
his opinions up in the secrecy of his own bosom ; hov% 
great then is the responsibility of teaching the young 
to look lightly upon the only book that holds out to us 
the faith of immortality, and opens to us the hope of 
heaven ! Let the teacher well consider this matter, 
and take heed that his teaching shall never lead one 
child of earth away from his heavenly Father, or fror?^ 
the rest of the righteous in the home of the blest. 

In view of what has been said, the young candidate 
for the teacher's office, almost in despair of success 
may exclaim, "Who is sufficient for these things f 
" Who can meet and sustain such responsibility ?** 
My answer is, the true inquirer after duty will not go 
astray. He is insufficient for these things, who is 
self-confident, who has not yet learned his own weak 
ness» who has never found out his own faults, and who 



RESPONSIBILITY 01 THK TEACHER. 33 



Inexcusable indifferonce. — The honest intiuirer may hope. 



ruslies to this great work, as the unheeding " horse 
riishelh into the battle," not knowing whither he goeth. 
Alas, how many there are who enter this profession 
(Without the exercise of a single thought of the respon- 
sibleness of the position, or of any of the great ques 
tions which must in their schools for the first time be 
presented for their decision ! How many there are 
who never reflect upon the influence of their example 
before the young, and are scarcely conscious that their 
example is of any consequence ! Such, in the highest 
sense, will fail of success. How can they be expect- 
ed to go right, where there is only one right way, bul 
a thousand wrong ? Let such persons pause and con 
sider, before they assume responsibilities which the^ 
can neither discharge nor evade. Let such a-sk with 
deep solicitude, " Who is sufficient for these things ?" 
But to the young person really desirous of improve- 
ment ; to him who has taken the first and important 
step toward knowledge, by making the discovery thai 
every thing is not already known ; to him who sees 
beforehand that there are real difficulties in this pro- 
fession, and who is not too proud or self-conceited to 
feel the need of special preparation to meet them ; to 
him who has some idea of the power of example in 
the educator, and who desires most of all things thai 
his character shall be so pure as to render his e:*' 
ample safe ; to him who has discovered that there are 
some leep mysteries in human nature, and that they 
are oniy to be fathomed by careful study to him who 
"•eally teels ili.u a great thing is to be ione and wlio 



34 KESPG NSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 

Visit to the prison.— Neatness and order.— An inquiry.- Library. 

nas the sincere desire lo prepare himself to do it 
aright ; to nim, in short, who has the true spirit of the 
teacher, — I may say, there is nothing to fear. An 
honest mind, with the requisite industry, is sufficient 
for these things. 



SECTION III. -THE AUBURN STATE PRISON 

During my visit at Auburn in the autumn of 1846, 
I was invited by a friend to visit the prison, in which 
at that time were confined between six and seven hun- 
dred convicts. I was first taken through the various 
workshops, where ihe utmost neatness and order pre 
vailed. As I passed along, my eye rested upon one 
after another of the convicts, I confess, with a feeling 
of surprise. There were many good-looking men 
[f, instead of their parti-rolored dress, they could have 
been clothed in the citizen's garb, 1 should have 
thought them as good in appearance as laboring men 
in g(^-neral. And when, to their good appearance, was 
added their attention lo their work, their ingenuity, 
and the neatness of their work-rooms, my own mind 
began to press the inquiry. Why are these men here ^ 
[t was the afternoon of Saturday. Many of them had 
completed their allotted work for the week, and with 
happy faces were performing the customary ablutions 
prepin-atory to the sabbath. Passing on, we came to 
the hbrary, a collection of suitable books for the con- 
victs, whic h are given out as a reward for diligence to 
those who have seasonably and faithfully performed 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 36 

\V yntt the murderer. — Sabbath morn. — General view. 

their labor. Here were many who had come to take 
then I ooks. Their faces beamed wiifi dehght as thev 
each bore away the desired volume, j\ist as I had seen 
the faces of the happy and the free do before. Whi^ 
are these men here ? was again pressed upon me •— 
why are these men here f 

At this time the famous Wyatt, smce executed 
upon the gallows for his crime, was in solitary confine- 
ment, awaiting his trial for the murder of Gordon, a 
fellow-prisoner. I was permitted to enter his room. 
Chained to the floor, he was reclining upon his mat- 
tress in the middle of his apartment. As I approached 
him, {lis large black eye met mine. He was a hand- 
some man. His head was well developed, his long 
clack hair hung upon his neck, and his eye was one 
of the most intelligent I ever beheld. Had I seen him 
in the senate among great men, — had [ seen him in a 
school of philosophers, or a brotherhood of poets, 1 
ehould probably have selected him as the most remark- 
able man among them all, without suspecting his dis- 
tinction to be a distinction of villany. Why is that 
man here ? thought 1, as I turned awa}^ to leave him 
to his dreadful solitude. 

The morrow was the Sabbath. I could not repress 
'uy desire to see the convicts brought together foi 
worship. At the hour of nine 1 entered their chapel, 
and found them all seated in silence. I was able to 
86 'J most of the faces of this interesting congregation. 
It was by no means the worst looking congregation 1 
had ever seen. There were evidently bad men there; 



Hb RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 



Wor&hip,— Singing.— Player.— Deep feeiirg. 

but what congregation oi free men does not |.re.seB! 
>some such ^ 

They awaited in silence the commencement of ths 
service. When the morning hymn was read, they 
joined in the song, the chonster being a colored man 
of their own number. They sung as other congre 
gallons sing, and my voice joined with theirs. The 
Scripture was read. They gave a respectful atten- 
tion. The prayer was begun. Some bow^ed in ap- 
parent reverence at the commencement. Others sal 
erect, and two or three of these appeared to be the 
hardened sons of crime. The chaplain's voice was 
of a deep, perhaps I should say, a fatherly tone, and 
he seemed to have the father's spirit. He prayed for 
these " wayward ones," who were deprived of then 
liberty for their offenses, but whom God would welcome 
to his throne of mercy. He prayed for their homes, 
and for their friends who this day would send theii 
thoughts hither in remembrance of those in bonds. 
He alluded to the scenes of their childhood, the solici- 
tude of their early friends, and the affection of theii 
parents. When the words home, friend, childhood, 
were heard, several of those sturdy sons of crime and 
wretchedness inslinctively bowed their heads and con- 
cealed their faces in their hands ; and as a father^s 
blessing and a mother^s love were alluded to, more than 
one of these outcasts from society, were observed to 
iash the scalding tear from the eye. These men 
feel like other men, — why are they here? was again 
the thouglit which forced iwelf upon my mind; and 



KESP()NS:3ILITV OP THE TEACHEll. 37 



Tiie (juestion again. — Specu.ation. — Their teachers. 



while the chaplain proceeded to his sermon, in tiic 
midst of the silence that pervaded the room, my mmd 
ran back to their educators. Once these men were 
children like others. They had feelings like other chil- 
dren, affection, reverence, teachableness, conscience, — 
SAdiy are they here ? Some, very likely, on account ol 
their extraordinary perversity ; but most because the> 
had a wrong education. More than half, undoubtedly, 
have violated the laws of their country not from extra- 
ordinary viciousness, but from the weakness of their 
moral principle. Tempted just like olher and beuer 
men, they fell, because in early childhood no one had 
cultivated and strengthened the conscience God had 
given them. I am not disposed to excuse the vices of 
men, nor to screen them from merited punishment 
neither do I worship a "painted morality," based solely 
upon education, thus leaving nothing for the religioL 
of the Bible to accomplish by purifying the heart, that 
fountain of wickedness : yet how many of these men 
might have been saved to society ; how many of them 
have powers which under different training might have 
adorned and blessed their race ; how many of them may 
date their fall to the evil influence and poisonous ex- 
ample of some guide of their childhood, some recreant 
teacher of their early days, — God only knows ! Bui 
what a reisponsibility still rests upon the head of any 
lUch teacher, if he did not know, or did not try to know, 
the avenue to their hearts ; if he did not feel or try to feel 
the worth of moral principle to these very fallen ones ' 
Ajid what would be his feehngs if he could look back 



8» RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TBACUEll. 



View to the final Judgment.— Study /o know, and to do. 



through the distant days of the past, and count up 
exactly the measure of his own faithfulness and of his 
own neglect? This the all-seeing eye alone can do, — 
this He who looketh upon the heart ever does ! 

Teachers, go forth, then, conscious of your respoiisj' 
bility to your pupils, conscious of your accountabililj^ 
to God, go forth and teach this people ; and endeavor 
so to teach, that when you meet your pupils, not in 
the walks of life merely, not perhaps in the Auburn 
Prison, not indeed upon the shores of time, but at the 
final Judgment, where you must meet them all, you 
may be able to give a good account of the influence 
which you have exerted over mind. As it may then 
be forever too late to correct your errors and efface 
any injury done, study now to act the part of wisdom 
and the part of love. 

Study the human heart by studying the workings ol 

rour own ; seek carefully the avenues to the affec 

ions ; study those higher motives which elevate and 

nnoble tiie soul ; cultivate that purity which shall al 

ure the wayward, by bright example, from the paths ol 

irror ; imbue your own souls with the love of teach 

mg and the greatness of your work ; rely not alone 

upon yourselves, as if by your own wisdom and might 

you could do this great thing ; but seek that direction 

which our heavenly Father never withholds from the 

hi nest inquirer after his guidance, — and though the 

tea(iher's work is, and ever must be, attended with 

overwhelming responsibility, yon will be sufficient 

FDR THESE THJNG-^ 



PERSONAL HABITS, ETC. 39 

The teacher a model.— Importance of good habits. 



CHAPTER III. 

VEilSUNAL HABITS OF THE TEACHER. 

The importance of correct habits to any individual 
cannot be overrated. The influence of the teacher is 
so great upon the children under his care, either for 
good or evil, that it is of the utmost importance to 
them as well as to himself that his habits should be 
unexceptionable. It is the teacher's sphere to improve 
the community in which he moves, not only in learn- 
ing, but in morals and manners ; in every thing that is 
" lovely and of good report." This he may do parllv 
by precept, — but very much by example. He teaches, 
wherever he is. His manners, his appearance, his 
character, are all the subject of observation, and to a 
great extent of imitation, by the young in his district. 
He is observed not only in the school, but in the fam- 
ily, in the social gathering, and in the religious meet- 
ing. How desirable then that he should be a model in 
fill things ! 

Man has been said to be a '* bundle of habits ;" anu 
it has been as pithily remarked — " Happy is the man 
whose habits are his friends." Tt were well if all per- 
sons, before they become teachers, would attend care- 
fully to the formation of their personal habits. This. 



40 . PERSONAL HABITa 



Cleanliness.-^ Ablution. —The teeth.— The i.,ails. 



unhappily, is not always done, — and therefore I shall 
make no apology for introducing in this place some 
very plain remarks on what I deem the essentials 
among the habits of the teacher. 

I. IVeatness. This imphes cleanliness of the per- 
son. 11 some who assume to teach were not proverbial 
for their slovenliness, I would not dwell on this point 
On this point, however, I must be allowed great plain- 
ness of speech, even at the expense of incurring the 
charge of excessive nicety ; for it is by attending to a 
few little things that one becomes a strictly neat per 
son. The morning ablution, then, should never be 
omitted, and the comb for the hair and brush for the 
clothes should always be called into requisition before 
the teacher presents himself to the family, or to hiss 
school. Every teacher would very much promote his 
own health by washing the whole surface of the body 
every morning in cold water. This is now done by 
very many of the most enlightened teachers, as well as 
others. When physiology is better understood, this 
practice will be far more general. To no class of 
persons is it more essential than to the teacher ; for on 
account of his confinement, often in an unventilated 
room, with half a hundred children during the day. 
very much more is demanded of the exhalents in him 
than in others. His only safety is in a healthy action 
of the skin. 

The teeth should be attended to. A brush md 
clean water have saved many a set of teeth. It is bad 
enough to witness the deplorable neglecl of these iJn- 



OF THE TEACHER. 4 1 



A viilgar habit.— Neat dress.— Tobacci —A puzzle. 



portant org ms so prevalent in the community ; but it 
IS extremely mortifying to see a filthy set of teeth in 
the mouth of the teacher of our youth. The nailsy 
loo, I am sorry to say, are often neglected by some of 
uur teachers, till their ehony tijys are any thing but 
ornamental. This matter is made worse, when, in the 
presence of the family or of the school, the penknife 
is brought into requisition to remove that which should 
Lave received attention at the time of washing in the 
morning. The teacher should remember that it is a 
vulgar habit to pare or dean the nails while in the 
presence of others, and especially during conversation 
with them. 

The teacher should be neat in his dress. I do not 
urge that his dress should be expensive. His mcome 
ordinarily will not admit of this. He may wear a very 
plain dress ; nor should it be any way singular in its 
fashion. All I ask is, that his clothing should be in 
good taste, and always clean. A slovenly dress, covered 
with dust, or spotted with grease, is never so much out 
of its proper place, as when it clothes the teacher. 

While upon this subject I may be indulged m a 
word or two upon the use of tobacco by the teacher. 
It is quite a puzzle to me to tell why any man but 
a Turk, who may lawfully dream away half his ex 
istence over the fumes of this filthy narcotic, should 
ever use it. Even if there were nothing wrong in 
the use of unnatural stimulants themselves, the fil- 
thiness of tobacco is enough to condemn it among 
teachers, especially in the form of chewing h is cor- 



i2 PERSONAL HABITS 



Improved tast«t!. — Order, system. — Courtesy of language. 

tainly worth while to ask whether there is not some 
<noral delinquency in teaching this practice to the 
young, while it is admitted, by nearly all who have 
fallen into the habit, to be an evil, and one from which 
they would desire to be dehvered. At any rate, I hope 
the time is coming, when the good taste of teachers, 
and a regard for personal neatness and the comfort of 
others, shall present motives sufficiently strong to in- 
duce them to break away from a practice at once so 
unreasonable and so disgusting. 

2. Order. In this place I refer to that system and 
regularity so desirable in every teacher. He should 
practise it in his room at his boarding-house. Every 
thing should have its place. His books, his clothing, 
should all be arranged with regard to this principle 
The same habit should go with him to the school- 
room. His desk there should be a pattern of orderly 
arrangement. Practising this himself, he may with 
propriety insist upon it in his pupils. It is of great 
moment to the teacher, that, when he demands order 
and arrangement among his pupils, they cannot appeal 
to any breach of it in his own practice. 

3. Courtesy. The teacher should ever be cour- 
teous, both in his language and in his manners. Cour 
lesy of language may imply a freedom from all coatse- 
ness. There is a kind of communication, used among 
boatmen and hangers-on at bar-rooms, which should 
find no place in the teacher's vocabulary. All vulgai 
jesting, all double-entendres, all low allusions, should 
be forever excluded from his mouth. And profanitv 



OF THE TEACHER. 43 



Profanity. — Purity. — Accuracy. — Courtesy of manner. 

-can it be necessary that I should speak of this as 
among the habits of the teacher? Yes, it is even so. 
Such is the want of moral sense in the community, 
that men are still employed in some districts, whose 
ordinary conversation is poisoned with the breath of 
blasphemy ; ay, and even the walls of the school- 
room resound to undisguised oaths ! I cannot find 
words to express my astonishment at the indifference 
of parents, or at the recklessness of teachers, wherever 
I know such cases to exist. 

Speaking of the language of the teacher, I might 
urge also that it should be both pure and accurate 
Pure as distinguished from all those cant phrases and 
provincialisms which amuse the vulgar in certain lo- 
calities ; and accurate as to the terms used to express 
his meaning. As the teacher teaches in this, as in 
every thing, by example as well as by precept, he 
should be very careful to acquire an unexceptionable 
use of our language, and never deviate from it in the 
hearing of his pupils or elsewhere. 

There is a courtesy of manner also, which should 
characterize the teacher. This is not that ridiculous 
obsequiousness which some persons assume, when 
they would gain the good opinion of others. It is true 
politeness. By politeness I do not mean any particular 
form of words nor any prescribed or prescribab^« 
mode of action, It does not consist in bowing ac- 
cording to any approved plan, nor in a compliance 
simply with the formulas of etiquette in the fashion- 
able world. True politeness is founded in benevo 



44 PERSONAL HABITS 



Politeness, in the teacher.— Anecdote.— The secret. 

lence. Its law is embodied in the golden rule of the 
Savior : — " Whatsoever ye would that men should do 
to you, do ye even so unto them." It is the exercise 
of real kindness. It entertains a just regard for the 
feelings of others, and seeks to do for them whai 
would make them really happy. 

The teacher should possess this quality. When 
ever he meets a child, it should be with the looks and 
words of kindness. Whenever he receives any token 
of regard from a pupil, he should acknowledge it in 
the true spirit of politeness. Whenever he meets a 
pupil in the street, or in a pubhc place, he should cor 
dially recognise him. In this way and a thousand 
others, which, if he have the right spirit, will cost him 
nothing, he will cultivate true courtesy in his pupils. 
He can do it in this way more effectually than he can 
by formally lecturing upon the subject. True politeness 
will always win its true reciprocation. Two teachers 
were once walking together in the streets of a large 
town in New-England. Several lads whom they met on 
the side-walk, raised their caps as they exchanged the 
common salutations with one of the teachers. *' What 
boys are these that pay you such attention as they 
pass?" inquired the other. *' They are my scholars," 
answered his friend. " Your scholars ! Why how 
do you teach them to be so very polite ? Mine are 
pretty sure never to look at me ; and generally they 
take care to be on the other side of the street." " I 
am unable to tell," said his friend ; " I never say any 
thingr about it. I usually bow to them, and they are as 



OF THE TEACHER. 45 

Manners neglected. — Punctuality a cardinal virtue. 

ready to bow to me." The whole secret consisted in this 
teacher's meeting his pupils in the spirit of kixidness. 

I would not, however, discourage a teacher from ac- 
tually inculcating good manners by precept. It should 
indeed be done. The manners of pupils are too much 
neglected in most of our schools, and, I am sorry to say, 
m most of our families. Our youth are growing up 
with all the independence of sturdy young republicans, 
— and, in their pride of freedom from governmental 
restraint, they sometimes show a want of respect for 
their seniors and superiors, which is quite mortifying to 
all lovers of propriety. It is the teacher's province to 
counteract this ; and in order to do it well, he should 
possess the virtue of true courtesy, both in theory and 
practice. 

4. Punctuality. This, as a habit, is essential to 
the teacher. He should be punctual in every thing. 
He should always be present at or before the time for 
opening the school. A teacher who goes late to school 
once a week, or even once a month, cannot very well 
enforce the punctual attendance of Lis pupils. I once 
knew a man who for seven long years was never late 
at school a single minute, and seldom did he fail to 
reach his place more than five minutes before the time. 
1 never knew but one such. I have known scores who 
were ftequently tardy, and sometimes by the space of 
a whole hour ! 

A teacher should be as punctual in dismissing as in 
opening his school. I know that some make a virtue 
of keeping their schools beyond the regular hours. 



46 PERSONAL HABITS 



Dismiss punctually.— Regular study.— Time for it. 

I have always considered this a very questionable 
virtue. If a teacher wishes to stay beyond his time, it 
should be either with delinquents, who have some les- 
sons to make up, or with those who voluntarily reman.. 
But, after all, if he has been strictly punctual to the 
liours assigned for his various duties in school, there 
will scarcely be the necessity for him, or any of his 
pupils to remain beyond the time for dismission ; and, 
as a general rule, a regard both for his own liealth and 
theirs should forbid this. It is better to work diligently 
while one does work, and not to protract the time of 
labor, so as to destroy one's energy for to-morrow. 

This habit of punctuality should run through every 
thing. He should be punctual at all engagements ; he 
should be studiously so in all the detail of school exer- 
cises ; he should be so at his meals, at his private 
studies, at his hour of retiring at night and of rising in 
the morning, and also at his exercise and recreation. 
This is necessary to a truly exemplary character, and 
it is equally as necessary to good health. 

5. Habits of Study. Unless the teacher takes 
rare to furnish his own mind, he will soon find his 
present stock of knowledge, however liberal that may 
be, fading from his memory and becoming unavailable. 
To prevent this, and to keep along with every imjjrove- 
ment, he should regularly pursue a course of study. 1 
say regularly; for in order to accomplish any thing 
really desirable, he must do something evory day. By 
strict system in all his arrangements, he may find time 
\o do it ; and whenever I am told by a teacher tliat he 



OF THE TEACHER. 4" 



A high standard. — Excelsior ! 



cannot find time to study, I always infer that there is 
a want of order in his arrangements, or a want of 
punctuality in the observance of that order. Human 
life indeed is short ; but most men still further abridge 
the period allotted to them by a disregard of system. 



What has now been said, upon the teacher's spirit, 
the teachei'^s responsibility, and the ieacher''s personal 
habits, will embody perhaps my views upon the cha 
racter of the individual, who may be encouraged to 
engage in the work of teaching. Nor do I thmk the 
requirements in this department have been overstated. 
I know, indeed, that too many exercise the teacher's 
functions without the teacher's spirit as here described, 
and without the sense of responsibility here insisted 
on, and with habits entirely inconsistent with those 
here required. But this does not prove that such 
teachers have chosen the right calling, or that tne 
children under their care are under safe and proper 
guidance. It proves rather that parents and school 
officers have too often neglected to be vigilant, or that 
suitable teachers could not be had. 

Let none think of lowering the standard to what has 
)»een, or what may even now be that of a majority 0/ 
ihose who are engaged in this profession. Every youn^ 
teacher's eye should be directed to the very best model 
in this work ; and he should never be satisfied with 
bare mediocrity. Excelsior, the motto of the Empire 
State, may well be the motto of the young teaclier. 



48 LITERARY QUA.LIFICATIONS 



Profession advancing , so is the pay. 



CHAPTER IV. 

LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS OF THE TEACHER. 

I AM now about to enter an extensive field. Since 
the teacher is to be the life of the school, it is of great 
consequence that he have within him the means of 
sustaining hfe. 

As the statutes in many of the states prescribe the 
minimum of attainment for the teacher, I might per 
haps spare myself the labor of writing on this po'nt. 
Vet in a thorough work on the Theory and Practice 
of Teaching, this very properly comes under consider- 
ation. 

The profession of teaching is advancing. The 
present standard of acquirement demanded of tlie 
teacher, excludes many who were considered quite 
respectable in their vocation, ten years ago. This may 
well be so ; for within that time, quite an advance has 
been made in the compensation offered to teachers. 
It is but reasonable that acquirement should keep pace 
with the reward of it. Indeed, the talent and attain- 
ment brought into the field, must always be in advance 
of the rate of compensation. The people must be first 
convinced that teachers are better than they were years 
ago, and then they will be ready to reward them. In 
Massachusetts, according to statistics in the possession 



OF THE TEACHER. 4*J 



What a teacher ougltt t<> know.— Orthography. 



of the Hon. Horace Mann, Secretary of the Board ot 
Education, the compensation of teachers within ten 
years has advanced thirty-tiiree per cent. ; nor is it 
reasonable to suppose that this advance has been made 
independent of any improvement among tlie teachers. 
Their system of supervision has increased in' strictness, 
during this time, in an equal ratio ; and many teachers, 
who were entirely incompetent for their places, have 
thus been driven to other employments. The cause is 
still onward ; and the time is not far distant when the 
people will demand still more thorough teachers for 
the common schools, and they will find it for their 
interest to pay for them. 

Under these circumstances, it will not be my design 
to give the very lowest quahfications for a teacher at 
present. I shall aim to describe those which a teacher 
ought to possess, in order to command, for some time to 
come, the respect of the enlightened part of the com- 
munity. I will not say that a man, with less attainment 
than I shall describe, may not keep a good school ; I 
have no doubt that many do. Yet if our profession is to 
be really respectable, and truly deserving of the regard 
of an enlightened people, we must have a still higher 
st^mdard of qualification than I shall now insist on 
The following is a list of the studies of which every 
teacher should have a competent knowledge. I add 
also to each, such wc;rd of comment as appears to be 
necessary. 

\. Orthography. This implies something more 
than mere spelling. Spelling is certamly indispen- 



50 LITEP.iRY QUALIFICATIONS 



Our alphabet.— Elementary sounds. — Norma chart. 



hable. No person should ever tliink of teach'iig, "who 
is not an accarate speller. Bui the natare and poivers 
of letters should also be mastered. Vv^e have in our 
language about forty elementary sounds ; yel we have 
but twenty-six characters to represent them. Oai 
alphabet is therefore imperfect. This imperfetlion is 
augmented by the fact that several of the letters are 
employed each to represent several different sounds. 
In other cases, two letters combined represent the 
element. There are also letters, as c, q, and x, which 
have no sound that is not fully represented by other 
letters. Then a very large number of our letters are 
silent m certain positions, while they are fully sounded 
in others. It were much to be desired that we might 
liave a jyerfect alphabet, that is, as many characters as 
we have elementary sounds, and that each letter should 
liave but one sound. For the present this can not be ; 
and the present generation of teachers, at least, will 
have to teach our present orthography. Those systems 
of orthography are much to be preferred which begin 
with the elementary sounds, and then present the letters 
as their representatives, together with the practice of 
analyzing words into their elements, thus showing at 
once the silent letters and the equivalents. These 
systems may be taught in half the time that the old 
K} stems can be ; and when acquired, they are of mucli 
greater practical utility to the learner. As my viewed 
iiave been more fully presented in the " Normal Ciiari 
OF Elementary Sounds," prepared for the upe of 
schools \ will only refer the reader to that work 



OF THE TEACHER. 51 



Few good readers —Mr. Mann's statement. 

2. Reading. Every teacher should be a good 
reader. Not more than one in every hundred among 
teachers can now be called a good reader. To be able 
to read well, implies a quick perception of the meaning 
as well as a proper enunciation of the words. It is a 
braiich but poorly taught in most of our schools. 
Many of the older pupils get above reading before 
they have learned to read well ; and, unfortunately, 
many of our teachers cannot awaken an interest in the 
subject, because very likely they cannot read any belter 
than their scholars. 

It would be interesting to ascertain how large a 
proportion of our youth leave the schools without 
acquiring the power readily to take the sense of any 
common paragraph which they may attempt to read. 
T am inclined to think the number is not small.* In 



* Since writing the above, my eye has fallen upon the following, from 
the second Annual Report of the Secretary of the Mass. Board of Educa- 
tion. "I have devoted," says Mr. Mann, "especial pains to learn, with 
some degree of numerical accuracy, how far tlie reading in our schools ia 
an exercise of the mind in thinking and feeling, and how far it is a barren 
action of the organs of sj^ech upon the atmosphere. My information is 
derived principally from the written statements of the school committees 
of the different towns, — gentlemen, who are certainly exempt from all 
temptation to disi)arage the schools they superintend. The result is that 
more than eleven twelfths of all the children in the reading classes in our 
schools, do not understand the meaning of the words they read ; that 
tliey do not master tlie sense of their reading lessons; and that the ideas 
And feelings intended by the author to be conveyed to and excited in the 
readei's mind, still rest in the autlior's intention, never having vet reached 
the place of their destination. It would hardly seem that the combined 
ecToits of all j/ersons engaged, coukl have acccmplished more, in defeatiuft 
Uie true objects of reading. How the cause of this deficiency is to be 
CJHr»ortioned aniong tne legal supervisors of the schools parents teachers 



52 LITERARY QUALIFIC A-IIOISS 

Hard labor.— Analysis of words.— Writing. 

thia way I account for the fact that so many cease Ic 
reaci as soon as they leave school. It costs them so 
much efort to decipher the meaning of a book, that it 
rounteracts the desire for the gratification and improve • 
ment it might otherwise afford. It should nut be so 
The teacher should be a model of good reading ; he 
should be enthusiastic in this branch, and never rest 
till he has excited the proper interest in it among the 
pupils, from the oldest to the youngest, in the school. 

It would be well if our teachers could be somewhat 
acquainted with the Latin and Greek languages, as this 
would afford them great facilities in comprehending 
and defining many of our own words. As this cannol 
be expected for the present, a substitute may be sought 
in some analysis of our derivative words. Several 
works have somewhat recently been prepared, to sup 
ply, as far as may be, the wants of those who hive not 
studied the classics. I should advise e'very teacher, for 
his own benefit, to master some one of these. 

3. Writing. It is not respectable for the teachei 
of the young to be a bad writer ; nor can it ever 
become so, even should the majority of bad writers 
continue to increase. The teacher should take great 
pains to v/rite a plain, legible ^and. This is an 
essential qualification. 

4. Geography. A knowledge of the principles ot 
Geography is essential. This implies an acquaintance 



ind authors of text-books, it is impossible to say ; but surely it is an evil 
p-atuitous, widely-pr« valent, and threateumg tiie most alarming conao 
^ucnce*" " 



OF THE TEACHER. 58 



Geography. — History. — Mental Arithmetic— Anecdotes. 

with the use of globes, and the art of map-drawing. 
The teacher should be so well versed in geography, 
that, with an outline map of any country before him, 
he could give an intelligent account of its surface, 
people, resources, history, &c. ; and if the outline map 
were not at hand, he ought to be able to draw one 
from memory, — at least, of each of the grand division.<5 
of the earth, and of the United States. 

5. History. The teacher should be acquainted 
with history, — at least, the history of the United States. 
He can hardly teach geography successfully without 
a competent knowledge of both ancient and modern 
history. It should, in the main, , be taught in oui 
common schools in connection with geography. 

6. Mental Arithmetic. Let every teacher be th.or 
oughly vl?sed in some good work on this subject."^ 
Colburn's was the first, and it is probably the best that 
has been prepared. That little book has done more than 
any other for the improvement of teaching in this coun- 
try. It is not enough that the teacher is able in some 
way to obtain the answers to the questions proposed 
He should be able to give, in a clear and concise man- 
ner, the reason for every step in the process he takes 
to obtain them. It is this which constitutes *the value 
of this blanch as a discipline for the mind. 

I may never forget my first introduction to this work 
On entering an academy as a student, in 1827, after I 
nad "ciphered through" some four or five arithmetics 
on the old plan, my teacher asked me if I had ever 

* Prof. Daries' Intellectual Arithmet c was not published at this time. — Pun. 



54 LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS 

Desirable result.— Principles above rules. 

Studied Mental Arithmetic, extending to me the little 
book above named. " No, sir." " Perhaps 3^ou would 
like to do so." I opened to the first page, and saw 
this question : " How many thumbs have you on y.)ur 
right hand?" This was enough; the color can e iiilo 
my face and I pettishly replied, '' T think 1 can find 
oi«,l the number of my thumbs without studying a hook 
for it." " But," said the teacher, " many of our young 
men have studied it and they think they have been 
profited. If you will take it, and turn over till you 
find a little exercise for your mind, I think you will 
like it." His manner was open and sincere, and I 
took the little book. In three weeks I had mastered 
it ; and I had gained, in that time, more knowledge of 
the principles of arithmetic than I had ever acquired 
in all my life before. I no longer " saw through a 
glass darkly." 

7. Written Arithmetic. This everybody de- 
mands of the teacher ; and he is scarcely in danger 
of being without fair pretensions in this branch. He 
should, however, know it by its p7inciples, rather than 
by its rules and facts. He should so understand it, 
lliat if every arithmetic in the world should be burned, 
he could still make another, constructing its rules and 
explaining their principles. He should understand 
arithmetic so well, that he could teach it thoroughly 
though all text-books should be excluded from his 
school-room. This is not demanding too much. Arith- 
metic is a certain science, and used every day of one's 
life, — the teacher should be an entire master of it. 



OF I'HE TEACHER. 55 

Bigotry in grammar. — Cause of it. — One book. 

8. English Grammar. It is rare that a teacher ii. 
found without some prehensions to English Grammar; 
yet it is deplorable to observe how very few have any 
liberal or philosophical acquaintance with it. In many 
cases it is little else than a system of barren technical- 
ities. The teacher studies one book, and too often 
tak6s that as his creed. In no science is it more 
necessary to be acquainted with several authors. The 
person who has studied but one text-book on grammai, 
even if that be the best one extant, is but poorly 
qualified to teach this branch. There is a philosophy 
of language which the teacher should carefully study , 
and if within his power, he should have some ac- 
quaintance with the peculiar structure of other lan- 
guages besides his own. It can hardly be expected 
that the common teacher should acquire an accurate 
knowledge of other languages by actually studying 
them. As a substitute for this, I would recommend 
that the teacher should very carefully read the little 
work of De Sacy on General Grammar, also the 
article " Grammar" in the Edinburgh and other ency- 
clopaedias. In this science the mind naturally runs to 
bigotry ; and there is no science where the learner is 
apt to be so conceited upon small acquirements as in 
grammar. Let the teacher spare no pains to master 
this subject. 

9. Algebra. This branch is noi yet required to be 
taught in all our schools ; yet the teacher should have a 
thorough acquaintance with it. Even if he is never 
caUed upon to teach it, (and it never should be intro- 



56 LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS 

Algetea.— Geometry.- -Surveying.— Natural Phil£BOi)hy. 

duced into our common schools till very thorougl? 
attainments are more common in the other brandies,) 
still it so much improves the mind of the teacher, 'ha^ 
he should not be vi^ithout a knowledge of it. 11^ 
will teach simple arithmetic much better for knowin^i 
algebra. I consider an acquaintance witli it indispen- 
sable to the thoioYigh teacher, even of the commor: 
school. 

10.^ Geometry. The same may be taid of tnia 
branch that has been said of algebra. Probably 
nothing disciplines the mind more effectually than the 
study of geometry. The teacher should pursue it foi 
this reason. He will teach other thmgs tbe, better for 
having had this discipline, to say nothing of the ad- 
vantage which a knowledge of the principles of geom- 
etry will give him, in understanding and explaining the 
branches of mathematics. 

11. Plane Trigonometry and Sury^'iying. In 
many of our schools these branches are required to be 
taught. They are important branches in ihemselves, 
and they also afford good exercise for the mind in 
their acquisition. The young teacher, especially the 
male teacher, should make the acquirement. 

12. Natural Philosophy. This branch is not 
taught in most of our district schools. The teacher, 
however should understand it better than it is presented 
in many of the simple text-books on this subject. He 
should have studied the philosophy of its prmciples, 
and be fully acquainted with their demonstration. If 
possible, he should have had an opportunity also o\ 



OF THE TEACHER. 57 



Chemistry. — Physiology, — Its importance. 



seeing the principles illustrated by experiment This 
is a great field ; let not the teacher be satisfied with 
cropping a little of the herbage about its borders. 

13. Chemistry. As a matter of intelligence, the 
teacher should have acquaintance with this branch, [t 
is comparatively a new science, but it is almost a 
science of miracles. It is beginning to be taught 
in our common schools ; and that department of it 
which relates to agriculture, is destined to be of vast 
importance to the agricultural interests of our country, 
'* Instead of conjecture, and hazard, and doubt, and 
experknent, as heretofore, a knowledge of the com 
position of soils, the food of plants, and the processes 
of nature in the culture and growth of crops, would 
elevate agriculture to a conspicuous rank among the 
exact sciences."* The teacher should not be behind 
the age in this department. 

14. Human Physiology. The teacher should well 
understand this subject. There is an unpardonable 
ignorance in the community as to the structure of the 
human body, and the laws of health, the observance 
of which is, in general, a condition of longevity, not tc 
say of exemption from disease. By reference to sta- 
tistics, it has been ascertained that almost a fourth pad 
of all the child''en that are born, die before they are 
one year old. More than one third die before they are 
five years of age ; and before the age of eight, more 
than one half oi all that are born return again to ti\e 



* ^>>l. Youug 



&8 LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS 

Dr. Woodward's opinion.— Quackery. 



earth ! Of those who survive, how many suffer the 
miseries jf hngering disease, almost sighing for dealli 
to dehver them from tiie pangs ^f life ! There i& 
something deplorably wrong in oui philosophy of living, 
else the condition of man would not so commonly ap- 
pear an exception to the truth that God does all things 
well.* Dr. Woodward, late of the Massachusetts 
State Lunatic Hospital, says : " From the cradle to the 
grave, we suffer punishment for the violation of the 
laws of health and hfe. I have no doubt that half the 
evils of life, and half the deaths that occur among 
mankind, arise from ignorance of these natural laws ; 
and that a thorough knowledge of them would diminish 
the suifermgs incident to our present state of being in 
very nearly the same proportion." I know not how an 
acquaintance with these laws can be in any way so 
readily extended as through the agency of our teachers 
of the young. At any rate, the teacher himself should 
understand them, both for his own profit and the 
mxcans thus afforded him of being directly useful in 
the discharge of his duties to others. I have already 



* " II is the vast field of ignorance pertaining io these subjects, in whic?i 
quackery thrives and fattens. No one who knows any thing of the organs 
and fimctions of the human system, and of the properties of those objecta 
m nature to which that system is related, can hear a quack descant upon 
the miraculous virtues of his nostrums, or can read his advertisements 
in the newspapers, — wherein, fraudulently towards man and impiously 
towards God, he promises to sell an 'Elixir of Life,' or 'The Balm of 
immortality,' or ' Resurrecion Pills,* — without cuitempt for his ignorance 
or detestation of his guilt. Could the quack administer his nostrums to the 
preat enemy, Death, then indeed we might exi)ect to live fwevci I**— 
Horace Mann 



OF THE TEACHER. 60 



liittiliectuai and Morai PliHosophy.— Rhetoric and Lo^ic. 



shown liial he is responsible io a greai extent for the 
bodilv liealth of his pupils. A thorough knowledge of 
physiology will enable hinn to nieet this responsibility 

15. Intellectual Philosophy. This is necessary 
for the teacher. His business is w^ith the mind He, 
of all men, should know something of its laws and its 
nature. He can know something, indeed, by obser- 
vation and introspection ; but lie should also learn by 
careful study. His own improvement demands it, and 
his usefulness depends upon it. 

16. Moral Philosophy. A knowledge of this may 
be insisted on for the same reasons which apply to 
intellectual philosophy. It is so important that the 
moral nature of the child be rightly dealt with, that he 
is a presumptuous man who attempts the work without 
the most careful attention to this subject. 

17. Rhetoric and Logic These are of great 
service to the teacher personally, as means of mental 

, discipline and the cultivation of his own taste. Even 
if he is never to teach them, they will afford him much 
assistance in other departments of instruction. He 
certainly should have the advantage of them. 

18. Book-keeping. Every teacher should know 
something of book-keeping, at least by single entry ; 
and also be conversant with the ordinary forms ol 
business. The profound ignorance on tiiis subject 
among teachers is truly astonishing.* Rook-keeping 

* A teacher, who had kept a private school, was net in a country atore 
jueday by one of his patrons, who pa'd liini for the tuition of his child, 
iskiwg at the same time for a receipt. Tiie teaciier stared vacantly at hi*' 



60 LITERARY QLALIFICATIUNS 

Book-keeping. — Anecdote. — Science ©f Govenimen!. 



should be a common-school study. In looking ovei 
the able Report of the Superintendent of Common 
Schools in New- York, J notice in fifty-three counties, 
(luring the winter of 1845-6, that among 225,540 
pupils in the common schools only 922 studied book 
keeping ! That is, a study, which in practjcal life 
comes home to the interest not only of every mer 
chant, but of every farmer, every mechanic, ii short, 
every business man, is almost entirely negleeted in 
the schools, — while it is yet true that our courts of 
justice display evidences of the most deplorable igno- 
rance in this important art. Some still keep their 
accounts on bits of paper ; others use books, but 
without any system, order, or intelligibility; and others 
still mark their scores in chalk, or charcoal, upon the 
panel of the cellar-door ! 

The teacher should qualify himself not only to 
understand this subject, but to teach it in such a way 
that it can be easily comprehended by the classes in 
our common schools. 

19. Science of Government. The teacher should, 
at least, be well acquainted with the history and genius 
of our own government, the constitution of the United 
States^ and of liis own stale. In a republican govern 
ment, it is of great importance that the young, who are 



patron. *' Just give me a bit of paper," said the patron, " to show ycu Ve 
sot tilt' money." " Oh, yes, sir," said the teacher ; and taking a nen and 
paper, wrote the following : 

" ^Jr 1 have got the money. 

J IV- » 



OF THE TEACHER. 61 



Anecdote.— Drawing.— Vocal Music. 



to take an active part in public measures as soon as 
they arrive at the age of twenty one, should before that 
time be made acquainted with some of their duties and 
relations as citizens. This subject has been introduced 
successfully into many of our common schools ; but 
whether it is to be matter of formal teaching or not, 
It is a disgrace* to a teacher and to hi3 profession, 
to be ignorant of the provisions of the constitution for 
the mode of choosing our rulers. 

20. Drawing. The good teacher should understand 
the principles of drawing. He should also be able to 
practise this art. It is of great consequence to him. 
Without neglect of other things, children can be very 
profitably taught this art in the common schools. In 
the absence of apparatus, it is the teacher's only way 
of addressing the eye of his pupils, in illustrating 
his teaching. Every teacher should take pains, nor 
only to draw, but to draw well. 

21. Vocal Music It is not absolutely essential 
though very desirable, to the good teacher, that he 
should understand music, theoretically and practicahy 
Music is becoming an exercise in our best schools; 
and wherever introduced and judiciously conducted, it 
has beer, attended with pleasing results. It promotes 



* Not long since a teacher of a public school afforded lasting amusement 
for the hangers-on at a country grocery. He was jeered for belongmg to 
the whig party by wliich Mr. Tyler was brought into power. " No, no," 
said he, " I voted for Gen. Hanison, but I never voted for John Tyler * 
"How did you do that?" inquired a by-f=-tander. ' Why lent Tylers 
name of of the iickft. to bo sure !' 



62 LITEEA.RY QUALIFICATIONS 

.Safety vf ive.— Martin Lutlier. — Remarks. 



good reading and speaking, by disciplining the ear to 
distinguish «ounds ; and it also facilitates the cultiva- 
tion ot the finer feelings of our nature. It aids very 
much in the government of the schooi, as its exerrisf 
gives vent to that restlessness wdiich otherv^ise wo\ild 
find an escapement in boisterous noise and whispering, 
— and thus it often proves a safety valve, through 
which a love of vociferation and activity may pass off 
in a more harmless and a more pleasing way. " Tlie 
schoolmaster that cannot sing," says Martin Luther, " I 
would not look upon." Perhaps this language is too 
strong ; but it is usually more pleasant to look upon a 
school where the schoolmaster can sing. 



1 have thus gone thiough with a lis^ of studies which, 
it seems lo me, every one who means to be a good 
teacher, even of a common school, should make himself 
acquainted with. I would not condemn a teacher who, 
having other good qualities, and a thorough scholarship 
as far as he has gone, might lack several of the 
branches above named. There have been many good 
teachers without all this attainment ; but how much 
better they might have been with it ! 

I have made this course of study as limited as 1 
posbibly could, taking into view the present condition 
and wants of our schools. No doubt even more will 
be demanded in a few years. I woula have the present 
race of teachers so good, that they shall be looked 



OF THE TEACHER. 6W 

General knowledge desirable. — A suggestion. 

upon by those who succeed ihcm as their '^worfhij and 
efficient predecessors^ 

1 ouglit in this place to add that the teacher increases 
his influence, and consequently his usefulness, in pro 
portion as he makes himself conversant with general 
knowledge. This is too much neglected. The teacher 
Sy the fatigue of his employment and the circumstances 
of liis life, is strongly tempted to content himself wiih 
what he already knows, or at best to confine himself to 
the study of those branches which he is called upon to 
teach. He should stoutly resist this temptation. He 
should always have some course of study marked out, 
which he will systematically pursue. He should, at- 
soon as possil)Ie, make himself acquainted generally 
with the subject of cStronoiPay, the principles of 
geology, in short, the various branches of natural 
history. He will find one field after another open 
before him, and if he will but have the perseverance 
to press forward, even in the laborious occupation of 
feaching, he may make himself a well-informed man. 

I will venture one other suggestion. I have found 
it a most profitable thing in tiie promotion of my own 
improvement, to take up annually, or oftener, some 
paiticular subject to be pursued with reference to 
writing an extended lecture upon it. This gives point 
to the course of reading, and keeps the interest fixed. 
When the thorough investigation has been made, let 
the lecture be written from memory, embodying all the 
prominent points, and presenting them in the most 
slnkinoj and systematic manner. It should be done 



64 LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS, ETC 

A poiiit gained. 

too, with reference to accuracy and even elegance of 
style, so that the composition may be yearly improved. 
In this W8ij certain subjects are forever Jixed in the 
mind. One who carefully reads for a definite object, 
and afterwards writes the results from memory, nevei 
loses his hold upon the facts thus appropriated 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION. 66 



The true ideal.— Illustration. 



CHAPTER V 

RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION. 

Every teacher, before he begins the work of in- 
struction, should have some definite idea of what 
constitutes an education ; otherwise he may work to 
very httle purpose. The painter, who would execute 
a beautiful picture, must have beforehand a true and 
clear conception of beauty in his own mind. The 
same may be said of the sculptor. That rude block of 
marble, unsightly to the eyes of other men, contains the 
godlike form, the symmetrical proportion, the life-like 
attitude of the finished and polished statue ; and the 
whole is as clear to his mental eye before the chisel is 
applied as it is to his bodily vision wlien the work is 
completed. With this perfect ideal m the mind at the 
outset, every stroke of the chisel has its object. Not 
a blow is struck, but it is guided by consummate skill ; 
not a chip is removed, but to develop the ideal of the 
artist. And when the late unsightly marble, as if by 
miraculous power, stands out before the astonished 
spectator in all the perfection of beauty, — when it 
almost breathes and speaks, — it is to the artist but the 
realization of his own conception. 

Now let the same astonished and delighted spectaior, 



66 RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION. 



A spectator's efforts. — The difference. 

with the same instruments, attempt to produce another 
statue from a similar block. On this side he scores 
loo deep ; on tiie other he leaves a protuberance ; here 
by carelessness he encroaches upon the rounded limb; 
there by accident he hews a chip from off the nose ; 
by want of skill one eye ill-mates the other ; one hand 
is distorted as if racked by pangs of the gout; the other 
is paralyzed and deathlike. Such would be his signal 
failure. Thus he might fail a thousand times. Indeed 
it would be matter of strange surprise if in a thousand 
efforts he should once succeed. 

Now the difference between the artist and the spec 
tator lies chiefly in this, — the one knows beforehand 
what he means to do ; the other works without any 
plan. The one has studied beauty till he can see it 
in the rugged block ; the other only knows it when 
it is presented to him. The former, having an ideal, 
produces it with unerring skill ; the latter, having no 
conception to guide him, brings out deformity. 

" What sculpture is to the block of marble," says 
Addison, " education is to the human soul ;" and may 
I not add, that the sculptor is a type of the true educa- 
tor, — while the spectator, of whom I have been speak- 
ing, may aptly represent too many false teachers who 
without study or forethought enter upon the dehcate 
business of fashioning the human soul, blindly experi- 
menting amidst the wreck of their heaven-descended 
material, maiming and marring, with scarcely the pos- 
sibility of final success, — almost with the certainty of a 
melancholy failure ! 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION, 



Blindness of employers. — Illustrated. 



In Other things besides education men are wiser. 
They follow naore the teachings of nature and of com- 
mon sense, ^-t in education, where a child has but 
one opportunity for mental training, as he can be a 
child but once, — where success, unerring success, is 
every thing to him for time and eternity, and where 
a mistake may be most ruinous to him, — in education, 
men often forget their ordinary wisdom and providence, 
and commit the most important concerns to the most 
incompetent hands. '' The prevailing opinions," says 
Geo. B. Emerson, " in regard to this art are such as 
the common sense of mankind and the experience of 
centuries have shown to be absurd as to every othei 
art and pursuit of civilized life. To be qualified to 
discourse upon our moral and religious duties, a man 
must be educated by years of study ; to be able to 
administer to the body in disease, he must be educated 
by a careful examination of the body in health and in 
disease, and of tlie effects produced on it by external 
agents ; to be able to make out a conveyance of prop- 
erty, or to draw a writ, he must be educated ; to 
navigate a sjiip, he must be educated by years of 
service before the mast or on the quarter-deck ; to 
transfer the products of the earth or of art from the 
producer to the consumer, he must be educated ; to 
make a hat or a coat, he must be educated by year? 
of apprenticeship ; to make a plow, he must be edu- 
cated ; to make a nail, or a shoe for a horse or an ox, 
he must be educated ; — but to prepare a man to do all 
these things ; — to train the body in its most tender 



r>8 RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION, 



Many poor teachers.— Defects hi teachms. 



years, according to the laws of health so that it should 
be strong to resist disease ; to fill the mind with useful 
knowledge, to educate it to comprehend all the relations 
of societ)', to bring out all its powers into full and 
harmonious action ; to educate the moral natuie, in 
which the ^ ery sentiment of duty resides, that it may 
be fitted for an honorable and worthy fulfilment of the 
public and private offices of life ; to do all this is 
supposed to require no study, no apprenticeship, no 
preparation '" 

Many teachers, therefore, encouraged by this unac 
countable indifference in the communitv, have entered 
the teachers' profession without any idea of the respon- 
sibihties assumed or of the end to be secured by then 
labors, aside from receiving, at the close of their term, 
the compensation for their service in dollars and cents. 
And even many who have entered this profession with 
good intentions, have made the most deplorable mistakes 
from a want of an adequate idea of what constitutes ar 
education. Too often has educating a child been con 
sidered simply the act of imparting to it a certain 
amount of knowledge, or of '' carrying it through " a 
certain number of studies, more or less. Education 
has too frequently been held to be a cultivation of the 
intellectual to the neglect of the moral powers ; and 
the poor body, too, except among savages, has had but 
little share in its privileges or benefits. In a very large 
number of our schools, the physical and the moral have 
both been sacrificed to the intellectual. Even some of 
our pubhc speakers have dwelt upon the necessity of 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION. 69 

Know edge may be unsafe.— A great question. 

intelligence to the perpetuity of our free institutions 
scarcely seeming to be aware that intelligence, without 
moral principle to direct and regjlate it, might become 
the very engine through which evil men might effect 
our overthrow. Who has not seen that an educated 
man without virtue is but the more capable of doing 
evil ? M'ho does not know that knowledge misdirected, 
becomes, instead of a boon to be desired, a bane to be 
deprecated ? 

From what has been said, I place it among tht 
highest qualifications of the teacher that he should have 
mst views of education. I consider it all-important tlmt 
he should have a well-defined object at which to aim, 
whenever he meets a young mind in the transition state. 
He should have an ideal of a well-educated human 
soul, tenanting a healthy, well-developed human body ; 
an ideal which he at once and systematically labors 
to reach, as does the sculptor when he commences 
his work upon the quarried marble. " What is it to 
educate a human being aright ?" should be one of the 
first questions the candidate for the teacher's office 
should ask himself with the deepest seriousness. 1 
say the candidate ; for this question should be settled 
if possible before he begins his work. It is a great 
question, and he may not be able to answer it in a day. 
Let him consult the dictates of his own mind, — let tiim 
consult the teachings of experience and of wisdom, as 
they are to be found in the writings of Mi'ton, Locke, 
Wyse, Cousin, Brougham, and others of the eastern 
continent, and of Wayland, Potter, Mann, G R. Emer- 



70 llIGH'l VIEWS Oi EDUCAliOJN. 

Results of inquiry. — Knowledge not undervalued, 

son, Dwight, and many others of our own countrynnen. 
Let him, enlightened by all this, carefully observe human 
nature around him ; consider its tendencies, its wants, 
and its capabilities ; and after a patient survey of all 
the truth he can discover upon the subject, let him 
come to an honest conclusion as to what is a correct 
answer to the query with which he started — " What is 
it to educate a human being aright ?" 

The conclusions of the honest and intelligent inquirei 
after the truth in this matter, will be something like the 
following : — That education (from e and duco, to lead 
forth) is development ; that it is not instruction merely — 
knowledge, facts, rules — communicated by the teacher , 
but it is discipline, it is a waking up of the mind, a 
growth of the mind, — growth by a healthy assimilation 
of wholesome aliment. It is an inspiring of the mind 
with a thirst for knowledge, growth, enlargement, — and 
then a disciplining of its powers so far that it can go on 
to educate itself. It is the arousing of the child's mind 
to think, without thinking for it ; it is the awakening of 
its powers to observe, to remember, to reflect, to com 
bine. It is not a cultivation of the memory to the neg 
lect of every thing else ; but it is a calling forth of all 
the faculties into harmonious action. If to possess 
facts smiply is education, then an encyclopaedia is better 
educated than a man. 

It should be remarked that though knowledge is not 
education, yet there will be no education without know- 
ledge. Knowledge is ever an incident of true education 
No man can be properly educated without the ac- 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION. 



The body— the intellect— tlie h(,art.— Mr. Fox. 

quisition of knowledge ; the mistake is in considering 
knowledge the end when it is either the incident or the 
means of education. The discipline of the mind, then, 
is the great thing in intellectual training ; and the 
question is not, how much have I acquired^ — but, 
how have my powers been strengthened in the act 
of acquisition 1 

Nor should the intellectual be earlier cultivated than 
the moral powers of the mind. The love of moral 
truth should be as early addressed as the love of 
knowledge. The conscience should be » early exer- 
cised in judging of the character of the pupil's own 
acts, and every opportunity afforded to strengthen it by 
legitimate use. Nor should the powers of the mind be 
earlier cultivated than those of the body. It is the 
theory of some, indeed, that the body should engross 
most of the attention for several of the first years of 
childhood. This I think is not nature's plan. She 
cultivates all the powers at once, — the body, mind, and 
heart. So should the teacher do. " Education," in the 
pertinent language of Mr. Fox,* '* has reference to the 
whole man^ the body, the mind, and the heart ; its 
object, and, when rightly conducted, its effect is, to 
make him a complete creature after his kind. To his 
frame it would give vigor, activity, and beauty ; to 
his, senses, correctness and acuteness ; to his intellect, 
power and truthfulness ; to his heart, virtue. The 
educated man is not the gladiator, nor the schoiar, noi 



* Lecture before the Am. hiatituto .P35 



72 RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION. 

Egresious mistakes.—" Good scholare."— " Poor scholars.'* 

the upright man, alone ; but a just and well-balanced 
combination of all three. Just as the educated tree ia 
neither the large root, nor the giant branches, nor the 
rich foliage, but all of them together. If you would 
mark the perfect man, you must not look for him in the 
circus, the university, or the church, exclusively ; but 
you must look for one who has ' mens sana in coiyore 
sand' — a healthful mind in a healthful body. The being 
in whom you find this union, is the only one worthy to 
be called educated. To make all men sucli, is the 
object of education." 

I have dwelt thus fully on this subject, because it is 
so obvious that egregious mistakes are made in edu- 
cation. How many there are who are called " good 
scholars" in our schools, of whom we hear nothing after 
they go forth into the world. Their good scholarship 
consists in that which gives them no impulse to go on 
to greater attainments by themselves. Their learning 
IS either that of reception — as the sponge takes in watei 
— or that of mere memory. Their education is not 
discipline ; it kindles none of those desires which 
nothing but further progress can satisfy ; it imparts 
none of that self-reliance which nothing but impossibil 
ities can ever subdue. While these are pointed out by 
their teachers as the ornaments of their schools, there 
are others, known as the heavy, dull, " poor scholars,'" 
in no way distinguished but by their stupidity, — of 
whom no hopes are entertained because of them nothing 
is expected, — who in after-life fairly outstrip their fel- 
lows and strangely astonish their teachers. Almost 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION. 73 



Misjudgment of cliaracter. — Nature at fault ! 

every teacher of fifteen years' experience has noticed 
this. Now wliy is it so ? Tiiere must liave been sonne- 
how in such cases a gross misjudgment of character. 
Either those pupils who promised so much by their 
quickness, were educated wrong, and perliaps educated 
too much, wliile their teachers unwittingly and uniti 
tentionally educated their less distinguished companiontj 
far more judiciously ; or else nature in such cases must 
be said to have been playing such odd pranks that 
legitimate causes could not produce their legitimate 
effects. We must charge nature as being txtremely 
capricious, or we must allege that the teachers entirely 
misunderstood their work, failing where they expected 
most, and succeeding, as if by chance — almost against 
their will, where they expected least. 1 incline to the 
latter alternative ; and hence I infer that the^e is such 
a thing as teaching a mind naturally active too much 
— exciting it too much, — so that it will prematurely 
exhaust its energies and gladly settle back into almost 
imbecility ; and that there is such a thir g as leaving 
the mind so much to its own resources, that without 
dazzling the beholder like the flash of the meteor when 
it glares upon the startled vision, it may be silently 
gathering materials to support the more enduring light 
of the morning-slar which anon will arise in majesty 
and glory. 

It will be w^ell for our youth when our teacliers shall 
so understand human nature, and so comprehend the 
scmcce and the art of education, that these mistakes 
siiall seldom occur ; and when he who tills the noblei 



74 lllGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION 

^ Certain results. 

soil of the mind, shall, with as much faith and as much 
certainty as he who tills the literal field, rely upon the 
fulfilment of heaven's unchangeable law : *' Whatso 
ever a man soweth that shall he also reap." 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 75 



Artness to teach.— Not an instiuct.— It can be acqiiiied 



CHAPTER VI. 

BIGHT MODES OF TEACHINO. 

From what has been said of Education, it is very 
obvious that it is no small thing to be a successful 
teacher. It is admitted by all that the teacher should 
De APT TO TEACH. He Cannot be useful without this. 
He may have an unimpeachable character ; he may 
have the most liberal and thorough literary acquire- 
ments ; he may deeply feel his responsibility, and yet 
•ifter all he may fail to teach successfully. 

Aptness to teach has been said to be a native endow- 
ment, a sort of instinct, and therefore incapable of be- 
ing improved by experience or instruction, — an instinct 
such as that which guides the robin, though hatched in 
an oven, to build a perfect nest like that of its parent, 
without ever having seen one. I am of opinion that 
such instincts in men are rare ; but that aptness tc 
teach, like aptness to do any thing else, is usually an 
acquired power, based upon a correct knowledge cf 
what is to be done and some accurate estimate of the 
fitness of the means used for the end. If there are 
exceptions to this, they are very uncommon ; and the 
safer way, therefore, for the majority of teachers, is, to 
study carefully the rationale of their processes, and to 



76 RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 

A mistake.— The way literary nurselings are made. 

-elj rather upon sound and philosophical principles in 
their teaching, than upon a very doubtful intuition. 

One of the most common errors into which youjig 
teacners fall, (and some old ones too,) is that of mis 
judging of the degree of assistance which the young 
scholar needs in the pursuit of learning. There are a 
few who forget the difficulties which impeded their own 
perception of new truths when learners, and therefore 
have no sympathy with the perplexities which surround 
the children under their charge when they encounter 
like difficulties. They refuse to lend a helping hand, 
even where it is needed, and by making light of the 
child's doubts, perhaps sneering at his unsuccessful 
struggles, they dishearten him so far that imaginary 
obstacles become insurmountable, and he gives up in 
despair. But a far more numerous class tend toward 
the other extreme. From a mistaken kindness, or a 
mistaken estimate of the child's abihty, or both, they are 
disposed to do quite too much for him, and thus they 
diminish his power to help himself. The child that is 
constantly dandled upon the lap of its nurse, and borne 
in her arms to whatever point it may desire to go, does 
not soon learn to walk ; and when it at length makes 
the attempt, it moves not with the firm tread of him 
who was early taught to use his own hmbs. There is 
d great deal of literary dandling practised in our schools; 
and as a consequence, a great many of our children are 
mere sickly nurselings, relying upon leading-strings 
while in the school, ind falling, for very weakness, just 
as soon as the supporting hand is withdrawn. TliiF 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING 



Anecdote of folly.— Pouring-in.— The " oral hobby." 

evil is so common, and in some instances so mon- 
strous,* that I shall be pardoned if I dwell upon it 
a little more fully. 

In illustrating this subject, I must mention two 
processes of teaching, not indeed exactly opposite to 
each other, though widely different, — into one or both of 
which many of our teachers are very liable to fall. I 
shall, for the sake of a name, designate the former as 
the 

SECTION I. -POURING-IN PROCESS. 

This consists in lecturing to a class of children 
upon every subject which occurs to the teacher, it 
being his chief aim to bring before them as many facts 
in a limited time as possible. It is as if he should 
provide himself with a basket of sweetmeats, and 
every time he should come within reach of a child, 
should seize him, and compel him to swallow — regard- 
less of the condition of his stomach — whatever trash 
he should happen first to force into his mouth. Chil- 
dren are indeed fond of sweetmeats, but they do no^ 
like to have them administered, — and every physiol-- 
ogist knows there is such a thing as eating enough 



* Not long since I visited a school, where the teacher with n^uch eeJf- 
complacency requested me to examine the writing of the cliildren. It 
uras indeed very fair. But when I drew from him the fact that he first 
v\Tote each page himselt with a lead pencil, and only required his scholars 
to black his marks over with ink , and that with unremitting labor he did 
tills week after week for all the writers in liis school, I knew not which 
Qiost to wonder at, the docility of the children or the weakness of ihi 
teacher The writing ceased to be wonderful. 



78 HIGHr MODES OF TEACHING. 

Victims of kindness, — Passive recipient. — A jug. 

even of an agreeable thing to make one sick, and thus 
produce loathing forever after. Now many teachers 
are just such misguided caterers for the mind. They 
are ready to seize upon the victims of their kindness, 
force open their mental gullets, and pour in, without 
mercy and without discretion, whatever sweet thing 
they may have at hand, even though they surfeit and 
nauseate the poor sufferer. The mind, by this process, 
becomes a mere passive recipient, taking in without 
much resistance whatever is presented till it is full. 

" A passive recipient !" said one to his friend, " whai 
is a passive recipient .<"' " A passive recipient," re- 
plied his friend, " is a two-gallon jug. It holds just 
two gallons, and as it is made of potters' ware, it can 
never hold but just two gallons." This is not an unfit 
illustration of what I mean by making the mind a 
Dassive recipient. Whenever the teacher does not 
first excite inquiry, first prepare the mind by waking 
it up to a desire to know, and if possible to find ou 
by itself, but proceeds to think for the child, and to 
give him the results, before they are desired, or before 
they have been sought for, — he makes the mind of the 
child a two-gallon jug, into which he may pour jusl 
two gallons, but no more. And if day after day he 
should continue to pour in, day after day he may 
expect that what he pours in will all run over. The 
mind, so far as retention is concerned, will act hke the 
jug ; that is, a part of what is poured in to-day, will 
be diluted by a part of that which is forced in to- 
morrow, and that again will be partially displaced and 



RIGHT MODES OP TEACHING. 711 



Mind weakened— Draw" ng-«ut —Leadinij: (luestioiia. 



partially mingled with the next day's pouring, till at 
length there will be nothing characteristic left. Bui 
aside from retention, there is a great difference be- 
tween the jug and the mind. The former is inert 
material, and may be as good a jug after such use as 
before. But the mind suffers by every unsuccessful 
effort to retain. 

This process of lecturing children into imbecility is 
altogether too frequently practised ; and it is to be 
hoped, that intelligent teachers will pause and inquiie 
before they pursue it further. 

The other process to which I wish to call attention, 
IS that which, for the sake of distinguishing it from th« 
first, I shall denominate the 



SECTION II. -DRAWING-OUT PROCESS. 

This consists in asking what the lawyers call lead 
mg questions It is practised, usually, whenever the 
teacher desires to help along the pupil. *' John," says 
the teacher when conducting a recitation in Long 
Division, "John, what is the number to be divided 
( ailed f John hesitates. " Is it the dividend ?'■ says 
the teacher. "Yes, sir — the dividend." "Well John, 
what is that which is left after dividing called ? — the 
remainder — is it ?" " Yes, sir." A visitor now enters 
the room, and the teacher desires to show off John's 
talents. " Well, John, of what denomination is the 
remainder ?" 



^0 RIGHT MODES OF TEACHI>'G. 

An example.— A spectator astonished. — Teaching HiBtcry ! 

John looks upon the floor. 

** Is n*t it always the same as the dividend^ John T 

'' Yes, sir." 

* Very well, John," says the teacher, sootliirgly, 
" what denomination is this dividend ?" pointing tc 
the work upon the board. " Dollars, is it not ?" 

" Yes, sir ; dollars." 

*' Very well ; now what is this remainder ?'' 

John hesitates. 

" Why dollars too, isn't it ?" says the teachei. 

** Oh yes, sir, dollars /" says John, energetically, 
while the teacher complacently looks at the visitor to 
see if he has noticed how correctly John has an 
swered ! 

A class is called to be examined in History. They 
have committed the text-book to memory, that is, they 
have learned the words. They go on finely for a time. 
At length one hesitates. The teacher adroitly asks a 
question in the language of the text. Thus : " Early 
in the morning, on the 11 th of September, what did 
the whole British army do ?" The pupil, thus timely 
reassured, proceeds : " Eaidy in the moriiing, on the 
Wth of September, the whole British army, drawn up 
in tw^o divisions, commenced the expected assault." 
Here again she pauses. The teacher proceeds to 
inquire : " Well, — ' Agreeably to the plan of Howe, 
the right wing' did what ?" 

Pupil " Agreeably to the plan of Howe, the right 
wing'^ — 

Teacher " The right wing, commanded by whom ^ 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 81 



A further example. — Yes, sir. 



Pupil. ''Oh ! ^Agreeably to the plan of Hoive, the 
right wing, commanded by Knyphausen, made a feint 
of crossing the Brandywine al Chad's Ford,' " &:c. 

This is a very common way of helping a dull pupil 
out of a difficulty ; and I have seen it done so adroitly, 
that a company of visitors would agree that it was 
wonderful to see how thoroughly the children had 
been instructed ! 

I may further illustrate this drawing-out process, by 
describing an occurrence, which, in company with a 
friend and fellow-laborer, I once witnessed. A teach- 
er, whose school we visited, called upon the class in 
Colburn's First Lessons. They rose, and in single 
file marched to the usual place, with their books in 
hand, and stood erect. It was a very good-looting 
class. 

" Where do you begin ?" said the teacher, taking 
the book. 

Pupils. On the 80th page, 3fd question. 

Teacher. Read it, Charles. 

Charles. (Reads.) " A man being asked how 
many sheep he had, said that he had them in two 
pastures ; in one pasture he had eight ; that three- 
fourths of these were just one-third of what he had in 
the other. How many were there in the other ?" 

Teacher. WeL, Charles, you must first get one 
fourth of eight, must you not ? 

Charles, Yes, sir. 

Teacher. Well, one-fourth of eight is two, isn't it' 

Charle.^. Yes, sir ; one-fourth of eight is two. 



yS RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 



Hard mental labor. — An interposition. 



Teacher. Well, then, ihree-fourths will be thiee 
times two, won't it ? 

Charles. Yes, sir. 

Teacher. Well, three limes two are six, eh ? 

Charles. Yes, sir. 

Teacher. Very well. (A pause.) Now llie boo.k 
says that this six is just one-third of w^hat he had in the 
other pasture, don't it ? 

Charles. Yes, sir. 

Teacher. Then if six is one-third, three-thirds will 
be — three times six, won't it ? 

Charles. Yes, sir. 

Teacher. And three times six are — eighteen, ain't it'' 

Charles-'. Yes, sir ! 

Teacher. Then he had eighteen sheep in the othei 
pasture, had he ? 

Charles. Yes, sir ! 

Teacher. Next, take the next one. 

At this point I interposed, and asked the teacher if 
he would request Charles to go through it alone. 
" Oh, yes," said the teacher, " Charles, you may do it 
again.'' Charles again read the question, and — looked 
up. " Well," said the teacher, " You must first get 
one-fourth of eight, mustn't you?" "Yes, sir." "And 
one-fourth of eight is two, isn't it ?" " Yes, sir." 
And so the process went on as before till the final 
eighteen sheep were drawn out as before. The 
teacher now looked round, with an air w^hich seemed 
lo say, " Now I suppose you are satisfied." 

" Shall 1 ask Charles to do it aga'n ?" said I. The 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 89 

Process of extraction- — Study discouraaied. 

tsacher assetited. Charles again read the question, 
and again — looked up. I waited, and he wailed ; — 
but the teacher could not wait. " Why, Charles," 
said he, impatiently ; *^ you want one-fourth of eight, 
don't you ?" " Yes, sir," said Charles, promptly ; and 
I thought best not to insist further at this time upon a 
repetition of " yes, sir,^^ and the class were allowed to 
proceed in their own way. 

This is, indeed, an extreme case, and yet it is but a 
fair sample of that teacher's method of stupefying mind. 
This habit of assisting the pupil to some extent, is, 
however, a very common one, and as deleterious to 
mind as it is common. The teacher should at once 
abandon this practice, and require the scholar to do the 
talking at recitation. I need hardly suggest that such 
a course of extraction at recitation, aside from the 
waste of time by both parties, and the waste of 
strength by the teacher, has a direct tendency to make 
the scholar miserably superficial. For why should he 
study, if he knows from constant experience that the 
teacher, by a leading question, will relieve him from 
all embarrassment ? It has often been remarked, that 
* the teacher makes the school." Perliaps in no way 
can he more effectually make an inefficient school, 
than by tliis drawing-out process. 

i look upon the two processes just described, as 
very prominent and prevalent faults in our modern 
teaching ; and if by describing them thus fully, I shall 
induce any to set a guard upon their practice in this 
particular, I shall feel amply rewarded 



S4 RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 



Helping the pupil. — Dangerous when excessive. 



SECTION III. -THE MORE EXCELLENT WAY. 

It is always a very difficult question for the teachei 
to settle, " How far shall I help the pupil, and how far 
shall the pupil be required to help himself?" The 
teaching of nature would seem to indicate that the 
pupil should be taught mainly to depend on his owr 
resources. This, too, I think is the teaching of 
common sense. Whatever is learned should be so 
thoroughly learned, that the next and higher step 
may be comparatively easy. And the teacher should 
always inquire, when he is about to dismiss one sub- 
ject, whether the class understand it so well that they 
can go on to the next. He may, indeed, sometimes 
give a word of suggestion during the preparation of a 
lesson, and, by a seasonable hint, save the scholar the 
needless loss of much time. But it is a very great evil 
if the pupils acquire the habit of running to the teachei 
as soon as a slight difficulty presents itself, to request 
him to remove it. Some teachers, when this happens, 
will send the scholar to his seat with a reproof perhaps, 
while others, with a mistaken kindness, will answer the 
question or solve the problem themselves, as the short- 
est way to get rid of it. Both these courses are, in 
general, wrong. The inquirer should never be frowned 
upon ; this may discourage him. He should not be 
relieved from labor, as this will diminish his self 
reliance without enlightening bin ; for whatever is 
done for a scholar without his having studied closely 



RIGHT M02)ES OF TEACHING 85 

The true medium.— "Not to-day, sir." 



upon it himself, makes but a feeble impressicn upon 
him, and is soon forgotten. The true way is, neither 
to discourage inquiry nor answer the question. Con- 
verse with the scholar a little as to the principles 
involved in the question ; refer him to principles 
which he has before learned, or has now lost sight 
of; perhaps call his attention to some rule or expla- 
nation before given to the class ; go just so far as to 
enlighten him a little, and put him on the scent, then 
leave him to achieve the victory himself. There is a 
great satisfaction in discovering a difficult thing foi 
one's self, — and the teacher does the scholar a lasting 
injury who takes this pleasure from him. The teacher 
^should be simply suggestive, but should never take the 
glory of a victory from the scholar by doing his work 
for him, at least, not until he has given it a thorough 
trial himself. 

The skill of the teacher, then, will be best manifested, 
if he can contrive to awaken such a spirit in the pupil, 
that he shall be very unwilling to be assisted ; if he can 
kindle up such a zeal, that the pupil will prefer to try 
again and again before he will consent that the teacher 
shall interpose. I shall never forget a class of boys, 
some fourteen or fifteen years of age, who in the study 
of algebra had imbibed this spirit. A difficult question 
had been before the class a day or two, w^hen I sug 
gested giving them some assistance. " Not to-day, sir,'^ 
was the spontaneous exclamation of nearly every one. 
Nor shall 1 forget the expression that beamed from the 
connlenance of one of them, when, elated vvith hip 



86 RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 

•' I've got it !"— Other than book-studies. 

success, he forgot the proprieties of the school and 
audibly exclaimed, " Fve got it ! I've got it /" It was 
a great day for him ; he felt, as he never before had 
felt, his own might. Nor was it less gratifying to Hie 
10 find that his fellows w^ere still unwilling to know his 
method o. solution. The next day a large number 
brought a solution of their own, each showing evidence 
of originality. A class that has once attained to a fceli'ig 
like this, will go on to educate themselves, when they 
shall have left the school and the living teacher. 

As to the communication of knowledge, aside from 
that immediately connected with school-studies, there 
is a more excellent way than that of pouring it in by 
the process already described. It is but just that I 
should give a specimen of the method of doing this. I 
shall now proceed to do so, under the head of 



SECTION IV. -WAKING UP MIND. 

The teacher of any experience knows, that if he will 
excite a deep and profitable interest in his school, he 
must teach many tilings besides hook-studies. In our 
common schools, there will always be u company of 
&mall children, who, not yet having learned to read 
understandingly, will have no means of interesting 
themselves, and must depend mainly upon the eacher 
for the interest they take in the school. This to them 
is perhaps the most critical period cf their lives. What- 
ever unpression is now made upon them will be endu- 
ring. If there they become disgusted with the dullness 



SIGHT MODUZ OF TEACHING. 87 

llepulsiveiioK3. — Grenera: exercise.— A specimen. 

and confinement of school, and associate the idea of 
pain and repulsiveness with that of learning, who can 
describe the injury done to their minds ? If, on the other 
hand, the teacher is really skillful, and excites in them 
a spirit of inquiry, and leads them in suitable ways to 
oliserve, to think, and to feel that the school is a happj 
place even for children, it is one great point gained. 

I may suggest here, then, that it would be well tc 
*5et apart a few minutes once a day for a general exer- 
cise in the school, when it should be required of all to 
lay by their studies, assume an erect attitude, and give 
their undivided attention to whatever the teacher may 
bring before them. Such a course would have its 
physiological advantages. It would relieve the minds 
of all for a few minutes. The erect attitude is a health- 
ful one. It would also serve as a short respite from 
duty, and thus refresh the older scholars for study. I 
may further add, that, for the benefit of these small 
children, every general exercise should be conducted 
with reference to them, and such topics should be 
introduced as they can understand. 

It is the purpose of the following remark^ to give a 
specimen of the manner of conducting such exercises, 
for a few days, with reference to waking up mind in the 
school and also in the district. 

Let us suppose that the teacher has promised that 
on the next day, at ten minutes past ten o'clock, he shall 
request the whole school to give their attention five 
minutes, while he shall bring something there to which 
he shall call the attention, especially of the little boys 



68 EIGHT MODES Ol*- TiSACHTNG. 



A tixed time. — Preparaticai. — Ear of corn. 



and girls under seven years of age. This very an 
nouncement wnll excite an interest both in school and 
at home ; and w^hen the children come in the mormng, 
they will be more w^akeful than usual till the fixed time 
arrives. It is very important that this time should be 
fixed, and that the utmost punctuality should be ob- 
served, both as to the beginning and ending of the 
exercise at the precise time. 

The teacher, it should be supposed, has not made 
such an announcement witfiout considering what he 
can do when the time arrives. He should have a well- 
digested plan of operation, and one which he knows: 
beforehand that he can successfully execute. 

Let us suppose that in preparing for this exercise he 
looks about him to find some object which he can make 
his text ; and that he finds upon his study-table an ear 
of corn. He thinks carefully what he can do with it, 
and then with a smile of satisfaction he puts it in his 
pocket for the ' general exercise.' 

In the morning he ^oes through the accustomed 
duties of the first hour, perhaps more cheerfully than 
usual, because he finds there is more of animation and 
wakefulness in the school. At the precise time, he 
gives the signal agreed upon, and all the pupils drop 
their studies and sit erect. When there is perfect 
silence and strict attention by all, he takes from his 
pocket the ear of corn, and in silence holds it up before 
the scliool. The children smile, for it is a famihai 
object ; and they probably did not suspect they were 
10 be fed with corr 



KIGIIT MODES OF TEALRlNii 89 



Teacher's address to tho children.— Their answers. 

Teacher " Now, children," addressing Inmself to 
the youngest, " I am going to ask you only one question 
to-day about this ear of corn. If you can answer it 1 
shall be very glad ; if the little boys and girls upon th?. 
front seat cannot g've the answer, I will let those in 
ilie next seat try ; and so on till all have tried, unless 
our time should expire before the right answer is given. 
I shall not be surprised if none of you give the answer 
I am thinking of. As soon as I ask the question, those 
who are under seven years old, that think they can give 
an answer, may raise their hand. What is this ear 



OF CORN FOR 



?" 



Several of the childien raise their hands, and the 
teacher points to one after another in order, and they 
rise and give their answers. 

Mary. It is to feed the geese with. 

John. Yes, and the hens too, and the pigs. 

Sarah. My father gives corn to the cows. 

By this time the hands of the youngest scholars are 
all down, for having been taken a little by surprise, 
their knowledge is exhausted. So the teacher says 
that those between seven and ten years of age may 
raise their hands. Several instantly appear. The 
teacher again mdicates, by | ointing, those who may 
give the answer. 

Charles. My father gives corn to the horses when 
the oats are all gone. 

Daniel. We give it to the oxen and cows, and we 
fat the hog^ upon corn. 

Lawa. It is good to eat. They shell it fjom the 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 



dosing at the time.— Hear no more till to-morrow. 

cobs and send it to mill, and it is ground into meal 
They make bread of the meal, and we eat it. 

This last pupil has looked a little further into domeb- 
tic economy than those who answered before her. But 
by this lime, perhaps before, the five minutes have been 
nearly expended, and yet several hands are up, and the 
faces of several are beaming with eagerness to tell their 
thoughts. Let the teacher then say, " We will have no 
more answers to-day. You may think of this matter 
till to-morrow, and then I will let you try again. I am 
sorry to tell you that none of you have mentioned the 
use I was thinking of, though I confess I expected 
it every minute. I shall not be surprised if no one 
of you give this answer to-morrow. I shall now put 
the ear of corn in my desk, and no one of you must 
speak to me about it till to-morrow. You may now 
take your studies." 

The children now breathe more freely, while the 
older ones take their studies, and the next class is 
called. In order to success, it is absolutely necessary 
that the teacher should positively refuse to hold any 
conversation with the children on the subject tilt the 
next time for * general exercise.* 

During the remainder of the forenoon the teacher 
will very likely observe some signs of thoughtfulness 
on the part of those littxC children who have been 
habitually dull before. And perhaps some child, eager 
to impart a new discovery, will seek an opportunity to 
make it known during the forenoon. " Wait till to- 
morrow '' should be the teacher's only reply 



RIGHT Modes of teaching. 91 

The children go home.— They observe.— Tliey inqu're. 

Now let US follow these children as they are dis- 
missed while they bend their steps toward home. They 
cluster together in groups as they go down the hill, 
and they seem to be earnestly engaged in conversation. 

*' I don't believe it has any other use," says John. 

" Oh, yes, it has," says Susan ; " our teacher would 
not say so if it had not. Besides, did you not see what 
a knowing look he had, when he drew up his brow and 
said he guessed we couldn't find it out ?" 

" Well, I mean to ask my mother," says little Mary * 
'* I guess she can tell." 

By-and-by as they pass a field of corn, Samuel sees 
a squirrel running across the street, with both his cheeks 
distended with ^plunder.'' 

At home, too, the ear of corn is made the subject of 
conversation. "What is an ear of corn for, mother?'' 
says little Mary, as sooit as they have taken a seat at 
the dinner-table. 

Mother. An ear of corn, child ? why, don't you 
know ? It is to feed the fowls, and the pigs, and the 
cattle ; and we make bread of it too 

Mary. Yes, we told all that, but the teacher says 
that is not alh 

Mother. The teacher ? 

Mary. Yes, ma'am, the teacher had an ear of corn 
at school, and he asked us what it was for ; and after 
we had told him every th'ng we could think of, he said 
there was another thmg still. Now 1 want to find out 
so that /can tell him. 

The consequence of this wiuld be that the family. 



92 RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 

Tlieir family become interested.— Second day.— Anecdote. 

father, mother, and older brothers and sisters, would 
resolve themselves into a committee of the whole on 
the ear of corn. The same, or something hke this, 
would be true in other families in the district; and 
hy the next morning, several children would have some- 
thing further to communicate on the subject. The hour 
would this day be awaited with great interest, and the 
first signal would produce perfect silence. 

The teacher now takes the ear of corn from the desk, 
and displays it before the school ; and quite a number 
of hands ai*e instantly raised as if eager to be the first 
to tell what other use they have discovered for it. 

The teacher now says pleasantly, " The use I am 
thinking of, you have all observed I have no doubt ; it 
is a very important use indeed ; but as it is a little out 
of the common course, I shall not be surprised if you 
cannot give it. However you toay try." 

' It is good to boil !"* says little Susan, almost sprmg 
jng from the floor as she speaks. 

* The children themselves will be sure to find some new answers to such 
questions as the above. In giving in substance this lecture to a gathering 
of teachers ^n the Autumn of 1845, in one of the busy villages of New York, 
where also tlie pupils of one of the district schools were present by invita- 
tion, 1 had described a process similar to that which has been dwelt upon 
above. I had given the supposed answers for the first day, and had described 
the -Bhildren as pressing the question at home. When I had proceeded as 
far as to take up the ear of corn the second day, and had spoken of the 
possibility that the true at>swer to the question might not be given, I turned 
almost instinctively to the class of children at my right, saying, " Now 
what is the ear of corn forP^ A little boy some six years oi ag(}, who had 
Bwallowed every word, and whose face glowed as if there was not room 
enough for his soul within him. bounded upon his feet, and forgetting the 
publicitv of the place, and the gravity of tht chairman of the meeting, 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING 93 

Older pupils interested.— The secret revealed. 

'* And it is for squirrels to eat," says little Samuel 
'* I saw one carry away a whole mouthful yesterday 
trom the cornfield." 

Others still mention other uses, Vv^hich they have 
observed. They mention other animals which feed 
upon it, or other modes of cooking it. The oldei 
pupils begin to be interested, and they add to the list 
of uses named. Perhaps, however, none will name 
the one the teacher has in his own mind ; he should 
cordially welcome the answer if perchance it is given ; 
if none should give it, he may do as he thinks best 
about giving it himself on this occasion. Perhaps if 
there is time he may do so, — after the following manner 

" I have told you that the answer I was seeking was a 
very simple one ; it is something you have all observed, 
and you may be a little disappointed when I tell you. 
The use I have been thinking of for the ear of corn is 
this ; — It is to plant. It is for seed, to propagate that 
species of plant called corn." Here the children may 
look disappointed, as much as to say, ' we knew that 
before.' 

The teacher continues : " And this is a very import- 
ant use for the corn ; for if for one year none should be 
planted, and all the ears that grew the year before 
should be consumed, we should have no more corn, 
Tliis, then, was the great primary design of the corn , 
tlie other uses you have named were merely secondary. 

clapping his hfuds forcibly together, " li's to popP* ho exclaimed em- 
phatically, very much to the amusement of the audience. His miad htw^ 
be«i waked uv. 



94 RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 

A new question.— Another.— Impart instruction. 

But I mean to make something more of my ear of 
corn. My next question is : — Do other plants have 
S3EDS ?"* 

Here is a new field of inquiry. Many hands are 
instantly raised ; but as the five minutes by this time 
have passed, leave them to answer at the next time. 

" Have other plants seeds .<"' the children begin to 
inquire in their own minds, and each begiris to think 
over a list of such plants as he is familiar with. When 
they are dismissed, they look on the way home at the 
plants by the roadside, and when they reach home, they 
run to the garden. At the table they inquire of their 
parents, or their brothers and sisters. 

At the next exercise, they will have more than they 
can tell in five minutes as the results of their own 
observation and research. When enough has been 
said by the children as to the plants which have seeds, 
the next question may be : Do all plants have 
SEEDS ? This question will lead to much inquiry at 
home wherever botany is not well understood. There 
are many who are not aware that all plants have seeds. 
Very likely the ferns (common brakes) will be noticed 
by the children themselves. They may also name 
several other plants which do not exhibit their apparatus 
for seed-bearing very conspicuously. This will prepare 
the way for the teacher to impart a little information. 
Nor is there any h irm in his doing so, whenever he is 
satisfied that the mind has been suitably exercised 

• Plant is hero used m the popular sense 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 95 



The recipient has gained capacity.— The elm.— A promise. 

The mind is no longer a '' passive recipient ;" and he 
may be sure that by inquiry it has increased its capacity 
to contain, and any fact which now answers inquiry, 
will be most carefully stored up. 

The next question may be . — Do trees have seeds? 
As the children next go out, their eyes are directed to 
the trees above them. The fruit-trees, the walnut, the 
oak, and perhaps the pine will be selected as those 
which have seeds. They will, however, mention quite 
a number which do not, or which, they think, do not 
have seeds. Among these may be the elm, the birch, 
and the Lombardy poplar. After hearing their opin- 
ions, and the results of their observations, take one of 
their exceptions, as the subject of the next question ; 
Does the Elm have seeds?* This will narrow their 
inquiries down to a specific case, and every elm in the 
district will be inquired of as to its testimony on this 
point. 

If the children can any of them collect and give the 
truth in the matter, so much the better ; but if they, 
after inquiring of their parents and their grandparents, 
as I have known a whole school to do, come back 
insisting that the elm has no seeds ; after hearing their 
reasons for their belief, and perhaps the opinions of 
their parents, you may promise to tell them something 
about it at the next exercise. This will again awaken 
expectation, not only among the children but among the 

* It IS a very common opinion in the country that the elm has no seeds 
I once knew a man who grew gray under the shade oi a large elm, and 
■vrho uLsistod that it never bore any seeds. 



dit RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 

A caution.— Example of teaching. 

parents. All will wish to know what you have to 
bring out. 

Great care should be taken not to throw any dispar- 
agement upon the opinions of parents. Perhaps afiei 
giving the signal for attention, you may proceed as 
follows : — 

" Has the elm-tree any seeds ? Perhaps, children, 
vou may recollect after the cold winter has passed 
away, that, along in the latter part of March or the first 
of April, we sometimes have a warm, sunny day. The 
birds perhaps appear and begin to sing a little, and as 
you look up to the elm, you notice that its buds seem 
to swell, and you think it is going to put out its leaves. 
Everybody says we are going to have an early spring. 
But after this the cold frosty nights and windy days 
come on again, and then you think the leaves cannot 
come out so early. Now, if you observe carefully, the 
leaves do not come out till about the 20th of May or 
perhaps the first of June. Did you ever see any thing 
like what I have described ?" 

" Yes, sir, we remember that." 

" Well, the next time you see the buds begin to open, 
just break off a twig of a good large tree, and you will 
find they are not the leaf-huds. But if you will watch 
them carefully for two or three weeks, you will find 
that each bud will put out some beautiful little flowers 
brightly colored, and slightly fragrant. If you will still 
continue to watch them, you will find as the flowers 
fall ofl", that seed-vessels are formed, shaped very much 
like the parsnip seed. These will grow larger and 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 9/ 

Elm-dixst. — A new question. -Resulls. 

larger every day, and by-and-by they will turn brown, 
and look as if they were ripe. Just about this time 
the leaves will come out ; and soon after, these seeds, 
during some windy day or night, will all fall off. Tlie 
ground will be covered with thousands of them. Per 
haps you have seen this." 

" Yes, sir," says John, " Grandpa calls that elm-dust.'" 

" Perhaps next year you c^n watch this, and ask 
your parents to examine it with you. But the five min- 
utes are ended." 

Now information thus communicated will never be 
'orgotlen. Tiie mind, having been put upon the stretch, 
IS no longer a passive recipient. 

The next question : — How are seeds dissemj 
NATED ? — (of course explaining the term — " dissemi 
nated.'") 

This will bring in a fund of information from the 
pupils. They will mention that the thistle seed flies 
and so does the seed of the milkweed ; that the burs 
of the burdock, and some other seeds are provided with 
hooks by which they attach themselves to the hair of 
animals or the clothing of men, and ride away to their 
resting-place, which may be a hundred miles off. Some 
faL into the water and sail away to another shore. 
Some, like the seed of the Touch-me-not, are thrown 
at a distance by the bursting of the elastic pericarp ; 
others, as nuts and acorns, are carried by squirrels, 
and buried beneath the leaves. These facts would 
mostly be noticed by children, when once put upon 
observation. 

7 



08 RIGHT MODES 01 TEACHING. 

Another.— Results.— Still another.— Remarks. 

Ne.^t question, — Are plants propagated in any other 
may than by seeds ? 

Tins question would call their attention to tl le various 
means of natural and artificial propagation, by layers, 
by offsets, by suckers, by grafting, by inoculation or 
budding, &c. &c. 

Again, — Have any plants more ways than one ofnatU' 
ral propagation 1 Some have one way only, by seeds, 
a€ the annual plants ; some have two, — by seeds, and 
by foots, as the potato ; some have three, — as the tiger 
lily, by side-bulbs from the roots, by stalk-hulhsy and 
bv the seeds. This can be extended indefinitely. 



SECTTION v.- REMARKS 

Let it be remembered that the above has been given 
simply as a specimen of what could easily be done by 
an ingenious teacher, with as common a thing as an ear 
of corn for the text. Any other thing would answer as 
well. A chip, a tooth or a bone of an animal, a piece 
of iron, a feather, or any other object, could be made 
the text for adroitly bringing in the uses of wood, the 
food and habits of animals, the use and comparative 
value of metals, the covering of birds, their migration, 
the covering of animals, &c. &c. Let the teacher but 
think what department he will dwell upon, and then he 
can easily select his text ; and if he has any tact, he 
can keep the children constantly upon inquiry and 
observation. 

The, advantages of the above course over simply 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 99 



Effects upon the children.— Advantages of observation 

lecturing to them on certain subjects, that is, over the 
vouring-in process, are many and great. Some of the 
most obvious I will briefly state. 

1 . It immediately puts the minds of the children into 
a state of vigorous activity. They feel that they are no 
\m\geT passive recipients. They are mcited to discover 
and ascertain for themselves. They are, therefore, 
profitably employed both in and out of school, and as a 
consequence are more easily governed. A habit of 
observation is cultivated in them ; and v^hat an advan- 
tage is this for a child ! It is almost unnecessary to 
remark that many people go through the w^orld with- 
out seeing half the objects which are brought within 
their reach. It would be the same to them if their 
eyes were half the time closed. If they travel through 
a country presenting the most beautiful scenery, or the 
most interesting geological features, they see nothing 
They grow up among all the wonders of God's works 
amid all the displays of his wisdom, of his design, to 
no purpose. They study none of the plans of nature ; 
and by all the millions of arrangements which God has 
made, to delight the eye, to gratify the taste, to excite 
the emotions of pleasure instead of pain, they are 
neither the happier nor the wiser. What a blessing, 
then, it is to a child, to put his mind upon inquiry ; to 
open his eyes to observe what his Creator intended his 
intelligent creatures should behold, of his goodness, his 
wisdom, his power. And how far superior is he who 
teaches a child to see for himself, and to think for him- 
self, to him who sees and thinks for the child, and thus 



lUO RIGHT MODES OF TEACHlJNG. 

Pareiitg benefited. — Take an interest in the school. 

practically invites the pupil to close his own eyes and 
grope in darkness through the instructive journey of 
life. 

2. It is of great service to the parents in the district 
to have this waking-up process m operation. Our chil- 
dren are sometimes our best teachers. Parents are apt 
to grow rusty in their acquirements, and it is no doubt 
one of the designs of providence that the inquisitiveness 
of childhood should preserve them from sinking into 
mental inactivity. Who can hear the inquiries of his 
own child after knowledge, without a desire to supply 
his wants ? Now it is right for the teacher to use this 
instrumentality to wake up mind in his district. Parents, 
by the course I have recommended, very soon become 
interested in these daily questions of the teacher ; and 
they are often as eager to know what is the next ques- 
tion as the children are to report it. This course, then, 
will supply profitable topics of conversation at the fire- 
side, ana very likely will encourage also the pursuit oi 
useful reading. It will moreover soon awaken a deeper 
interest in the school on the part of the parents. They 
will begin to inquire of one another as to this new 
measure ; and when they find by conference that the 
feeling in this matter is becoming general, they will 
desire to vibit the school to witness this as well as the 
other operations of the teacher. This will secure 
jjarental cooperation, and thus in every way the in- 
fluence of the school will be heightened. It is no 
small thing for a teacher to enlist the mterest of his 
patrons in the success of his school ; and this is the mopt 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. lOl 

Teacher is improved. — His temptations. 

happily done, when it is achieved ihrough the medium 
of the pupils themselves. 

3. It wakes up the teacher's own mind. This is 
by no means the least important point to be gained. 
The teacher, by the very nature of his employment, 
by daily confinement in an unhealthy atmosphere, 
by teaching over and over again that with which he 
is quite familiar, by boarding with people who are 
inclined to be social, and by the fatigue and languor 
with which he finds himself oppressed every night, is 
strongly tempted to neglect his own improvement 
There are but few^ who rise above this accumulation of 
.mpediments, and go on in spite of them to eminence 
m the profession. A large proportion of all who teach, 
rely upon the attainments with which they commence ; 
and in the course of two or three years, finding ihem 
selves behind the age, they abandon the employment 
This is very natural. Any man who treads in a beaten 
track, like a horse in a mill, must become weary, how- 
ever valuable the product may be which he grinds out. 
It is essential that he should keep his own interest 
awake by some exercise of his ingenuity, and that he 
should compel himself to be industrious by undertaking 
that which will absolutely demand study The above 
process will do this ; and while he may have the 
exquisite pleasure of seeing the growth of his pupils' 
minds, he may also have the higher satisfaction of 
feeling the growth of his own. 

T must here add, that it has not been mv intention 



l02 RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 

Books not to be neglected. — Given only as a specimen. 

in what I have said, to inculcate the idea that the study 
of books should in the least degree be abated to make 
room for this process of waking up mind. The various 
branches are to be pursued and as diligently pursued ay 
ever before. The time to be set apart for this exercise 
should be short, — never probably to exceed five min- 
utes. It is to come in when the scholars need rest for 
a moment, and when, if not employed about this, they 
would probably be doing nothing, or perhaps worse 
than nothing. It should be managed with care, and 
ghould never be made a hobby by teachers, as if it were 
of more importance than any thing else. One secret 
of success in this — as indeed in every thing — is, that it 
should not be continued too long at once. The pupils 
should be left " longing — not loathing." 

Let me again remind the reader that I have given the 
above as a specimen. The choice of the ear of corn 
was merely accidental ; it happened to lie on my table 
when I wanted a text. The teacher should look upon 
this simply as a specimen, and then choose his own 
subjects. The main point aimed at is this : — Never ask 
leading questions which your scholars can hardly fail 
to answer; and never lecture to your pupils till you have 
somehow first kindled in them a living desire to know ; 
that is, avoid alike the " drawing-out" and the " pour- 
ing-in" process. Rather let it be your object to excite 
inquiry by a question they cannot answer without 
thought and observation, — and such a question as they 
would deem it disgraceful not to be able to answer, 
This adroitly done is " waking up mind?^ 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 103 



Aptuess to teach. — Difference in men ; in teachers. 



CHAPTER VII. 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 



In considering a teacher's qualifications, the power 
of exciting an interest in the recitations of his school 
may not be overlooked. No man can be successful foi 
any length of time without this. This comprises what 
is usually implied by aptness to teach. All men 
have not this faculty by nature in an equal degree. 
Some may talk for an hour upon an interesting topic in 
the presence of children without commanding their 
attention ; while there are others who can take even a 
common-place subject and secure for any length of 
time an all-absorbing interest in every word. This 
difference is seen in every grade of public speakers, 
and in all descriptions of writers ; but perhaps more 
strikingly than anywhere else it is observable among 
teachers. Enter one school, aid you may notice thai 
the scholars are dull and listless ; indifference sits un- 
disturbed upon their brows ; or perhaps they are driven 
by the activity of their own natures to some expedient 
to interest themselves, while the teacher is with verj* 
commendable spirit, laboriously — perhaps learnedly — 
explaining some principle or fact designed for theii 
edification. The secret is, he has not yet learned to 



l04 CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 



A contrast. — Not always a natural gift. 



awaken their attention ; he fails to excite their inter- 
est. N 

Pass to another schoo' A breathless silence per- 
vades the room ; the countenances of the children, 
upturned towards the teacher, beam with delight. As 
he kindles into earnestness and eloquence, they Kindle 
into responsive enthusiasm. Whenever his eye meets 
theirs, he sees — he feels the glow radiated by the fire 
lie is lighting in their souls, and his own gathers new 
warmth and enthusiasm in return. Such a man is apt 
to teach ; and you could scarcely break the spell by 
which he holds his class, " though you should give 
them for playthings, shining fragments broken from off 
the sun." 

He who possesses this gift naturall}^, has very greai 
advantage as a teacher to begin with. The ability to 
tell well what he knows, is of more consequence to the 
teacher, than the greatest attainments without the power 
to communicate them. Combine high attainments with 
the ability to tell, and you have the accomplished 
teacher. 

But this power to communicate is not necessarily a 
natural gift ; it comes not always by intuition. It can 
be acquired. It is founded in philosophy ; and he who 
can understand my thing of the workings of his own 
mind, who can revert to the mental processes he went 
through in order to comprehend a principle, who can 
go back to that state of mind he was in before he com- 
prehended it, and then by one step more can put him- 
self in the place of the child he is teaching, realizing 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 105 



Ilow acquired.— Natural order. — Science of teaching. 



exactly his perplexiiies and feeling his precise wants, 
can become the apt teacher. Those who fail in this 
are usually those who have forgotten the steps they 
took to acquire their own knowledge, or perhaps who 
never noticed what steps they did take. 

To acquire this rare qualification should be the con- 
stant study of the teacher. To this end he should 
recall, as far as possible, the operations of his own 
mind in childhood. By studying his own mind, he 
learns, often most effectually, what he needs to know 
of others. Whenever he is preparing to teach any 
principle or fact to others, let him ask himself ques- 
tions like the following : — What was the dark point in 
this, when 1 studied it ? Where did my mind ,laboi 
most? What point did my teacher fail to explain' 
Such questions will frequently suggest the very diffi- 
culty which perplexes every mind in the same process 
Again, the following inquiries may be very useful : — 
In studying this, what was the first point wliich 
appeared clear to me ? After this, what was the 
second step, and how did that follow the first ? The 
next in order ? And the next ? Was this the natural 
order ? If not, what is the natural order ? The right 
answers to these questions will suggest the course to 
be pur.sued in the instruction of a class. 

The teacher can scarcely ask a more importani 
question than this : — What is the natural order of 
presenting a given subject ? The abilit}^ to determme 
this, is what constitutes in a great degree the science of 
teaching. This inquiry should occupy much thouglil ; 



106 CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 

Thorough knowledge.— Its advantages to Die teacher. 

because a mistake here is disastrous, and ever will be 
as long as difine wisdom is superior to human. He 
who can ascertain the ordeT of nature, will be most 
sure of exciting an interest in the subject he is endeav 
oring to teach. 

Some further suggestions as to conducting school 
recitations are contained in the following paragraphs. 

1 . The teacher should thoroughly understand what 
he attempts to teach. It is destructive of all life in the 
exercise, if the teacher is constantly chained down to 
the text-book 1 have no objection, indeed, that he 
should take his text-book with him to the class, and 
that he should occasionally refer to it to refresh his 
own memory, or to settle a doubt. But who does nut 
know that a teacher who is perfectly familiar with 
what is to be taught, has ten times the vivacity of one 
who is obliged to follow the very letter of the book ] 
His own enthusiasm glows in his countenance, sparkles 
in his eye, and leaps from his tongue. He watches 
the halting of the pupil, perceives his difficulty, devises 
his expedient for illustrating the dark point in some 
new way, and, at the proper moment, renders just the 
amount of assistance which the pupil needs. Not 
confined to the text, he has the use of his eyes ; and 
when he speaks or explains, he can accompany his 
remark with a quickening look of intelhgence. In this 
way his class is enlivened. They respect him for his 
ready attainment, and they are fired with a desire to be 
his equal. 

How different is it wuh a teacher who knows nothing 



CONDUCTING RECITATION*'. lOT 



Printed questioiifi. — Speciul pr^'./aration 



of the subject but what is contained in the text before 
lii/u, and who knows that only as he reads it during 
the intervals occasioned by the hesitations of the class. 
Every question he proposes is printed at the bottom 
of the page ; and as soon as he reads the question, 
without a glance at the pupil, his eye sets out on a 
chase after the answer in the text. If the scholar 
lias not already been stupified by such teaching, and 
happens to give an intelligent answer, yet not in the 
precise language of the book, he is set right by the 
teacher's reading the very words, — just so much de- 
tached from the sentence^ as he fancies was intended 
to answer that one question ! In this way he dis- 
courages thought in his pupils, and sets a bounty 
on mechanical study. In this way, too, he congeals 
whatever of interest they bring with them to the reci- 
tation, and they sink into indifference, — or, following 
the instincts of their nature, they seek occupation 
in play or mischief, even under the sound of his 
voice ! 

2. The teacher should specially prepare himself fof 
each lesson he assigns. This is naturally suggested bv 
what has just been said. The teacher's memory* needs 
to be refreshed. We all know how difficult it would 
be to ?'ecite a lesson, in geometry for instance, weeks 
after studying it. It is so in other things. Now the 
teacher should be so familiar with the lesson which he 
proposes to hear recited, that he could recite it himself 
as perfectly as he would desire his scholars to do it 
This is seldom the case. I have heard a teacher, with 



108 CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 

The tables turned.— Common-place book. — Its ?jse. 

the text-book in his hands, complain of the dullness oi 
inaccuracy of his classes, when, if the tables had been 
turned, and the pupils allowed to ask the questions, 
ihe teacher would scarcely have recited as well. And 
I may add, this is no vei^y unco?n??ion thing ! If any 
one is startled at this assertion, let him request a 
friend, in whom he can confide, to ask him the ques- 
tions of a particular lesson in geography, or history, oi 
grammar. The teacher should daily study his class 
lessons. This will enable him the belter to assign his 
lessons judiciously. In this daily study, he should 
master the text-book upon tl^^ subject ; and more than 
this, he should consider what collateral mailer he can 
bring in to illustrate the lesson. He should draw upon 
the resources of his own mind, — upon the treasures of 
his common-place book* — upon the contents of some 



* It is an excellent plan for every teacher to keep a common-place book 
of considerable size, different portions of it being set apart for the differ- 
ent subjects upon which he is to give instruction. On the first- twenty 
pages, "Geography" may be the head,— ihe next twenty pages may be 
set apart for " History," — twenty more may be assigned to " Reading,"^— 
and a hke number to "Arithmetic," "Grammar," "Spelling," "Wri- 
ting," &c., reserving quite a space for " Miscellaneous Matter." Thia 
would make a large book, but when it is remembered that it is to be used 
for several years, it is well to have it large enough to contain a large 
anwunt of matter. Now, whenever the teaclier hears a lecture on a pecu- 
liar metliod of teaching either of these branches, let him note the promi- 
nent parts of it under tlie proper head, and especially the illustrations. 
When he reads or hears an anecdote illustrating Geography, History, 01 
Grammar, let it be copied under tlie proper head. If it illustrates Geogra- 
phy, let the na?ne of the place stand at its head. When he visits a school, 
and listens to a new explanation or a new process, let him note it und?r 
its head. In this way he may collect a thousand valuablo things tc be 
\ised with, judgment in his school. 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS, 109 



Use of the eye. — Correct lanRuago 

encyclopsBclia, — upon any source, from whence he can 
obtain a supply of knowledge for his purpose. This 
will improve 'his own mind, and he will be encouraged, 
as from time to time he teaches the same branch, to 
find that he is able to do better than ever before, and 
that, mstead of becoming weary with repetition, he is 
more and more enthusiastic in the subject. 

Going thus to his class — so full of the subject, that 
were the text-book annihilated, he could make anotlier 
and better one — he will have no difficulty to secure 
attention. As he speaks, his eye accompanies his 
word, and as his pupils answer, he sees the expression 
of their countenances ; and what a world of meaning 
there is in this expression ! It betrays, better than 
words can do, the clearness or obscurity of the mind's 
perception, when a truth is presented. How different 
the beaming of the eye when the soul a'pjwehendSf 
from that almost idiotic stare at vacuity when words 
are used without import. And how necessary it is 
that the teacher should be free to observe the inward 
workings of the soul as indicated upon the counte 
nance. 

3. The teacher should he able to use our language 
fluently and correctly. In this many are deficient, 
They hesitate and stammer, and after all, e.ypress their 
ideas in vague terms, and perhaps by the use of in 
accurate or inelegant language A teacher in no way 
gives so effectual mstruction in grammar as by his own 
use of our language ; and there can be no sight more 
mortifying than that of a teacher laboring to fix in the 



110 CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 

•' Sums."—" Question."— Anecdote.— Animation. 

minds of his class some rule of syntax, when his own 
language at the very moment shows an entire di'sregard 
of the rule It is very common to hear teachers talk 
of " sums'''' to their classes in arithmetic, and even to 
isk them to do " sums" in subtraction or division I 
The term ^' questiorH'' is often as improperly applied, 
when no question is asked. The teacher should be 
accurate in the use of terms. " Question" is some 
times the proper word ; sometimes " problem," and 
sometimes " exercise," or " example," may with more 
propriety be used ; but " sum!^ means the amount of 
several numbers when added, and it should not be 
applied as the name of an exercise. Some teachers 
use the terms ratio and proportion* interchangeably, 
as if they were synonyms. Such inaccuracies in the 
teacher will be sure tc be reproduced in the school, 
and it is a great evil for the scholar to acquire a 
careless habit in the use of terms. 

4. He should have proper animation himself. Hor 
dce Mann describes some of the Scotch teachers as 
working themselves up into a feverish excitement in 
the presence of their classes, and the classes in turn 
as literally bounding from the floor when they answer 
their hasty questions. Now, while I think these Scotch 



* We are reminded by this of the college student who was examined 
rather closely by his tutor. " What is ratio ?" inquired the tutor. " Ratio ?'* 
3aid the young man, "ratio is proportion." " Well, what is iHoportion ?" 
•'Proportion? proiwrtion is ratio." "Weil, then." said the tutor, looking 
p>erplexod, " what are both together^" " Excuse ine," said the pupil, " 1 
tan define but one at a tivic .''* 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 1 1 1 

Children imitative.— Attitude. — The attention of the claas. 

leachers go quite too far, I do think that many of our 
own teachers come short of a proper standard of. ani- 
mation. A teacher should be ready, without being 
rapid ; animated, without being boisterous. Children 
are imitative beings ; and it is astonishing to observe 
bow very soon they catch the manners of the teacher. 
If he is heavy and plodding in his movements, they 
will very soon be dull and drowsy in thdrs ; then, if 
he speaks in a sprightly tone, and moves about with 
an elastic step, they almost realize a resurrection from 
the dead. If he appears absent-ininded, taking but 
little interest in the lesson which is recited, they will 
be as inattentive, at least, as he; while, if all his 
looks and actions indicate that the subject is of some 
importance, he will gain their attention. Nor can I 
refrain in this place from suggesting to the teacher 
the importance of regarding his manners, while en- 
gaged in conducting a recitation. His attitude should 
not be one of indolence or coarseness, — and when he 
moves from his se>at, and appears at the blackboard tc 
illustrate any point, it should be done gracefully, and 
with a constant regard to the fact, that every look and 
every motion teaches. 

5. He should never proceed without the attention of 
the class. A loss of interest is sure to follow a want 
of attention Besides, a habit of inattention, while it 
is very connnon, is also a great calamity to the person 
who falls into it during life. Many a sermon is losf 
upon a portion of the audience in our churches every 
Sabbath from this cause. When the attention is 



112 CONDUCTING RIlCITATIONS 



A routine.—" Books but helps."— Utility 



aroused, the impression made is enduring ; and one 
idea then communicated is worth a hundred at any 
other time. 

(3. Avoid a formal routine in teaching. Children 
are very apt to imbibe the notion that they study in 
order to recite. They have but httle idea of any pur- 
pose of acquirement beyond recitation ; hence they 
study their text book as mere vt^ords. The teacher 
should, as soon as possible, lead them to study the sub- 
ject, using the book simply as an instrument. " Books 
are but helps" — should become their motto. In order 
to bring this about, the instructor would do well occa- 
sionally to leave entirely the order of the book, and 
question them on the topic they have studied. If they 
are pursuing arithmetic, for instance, and they have 
carefully prepared a definite number of problems, it 
might be well to test thair ability by giving them at the 
recitation others of the teachers' own preparing, in- 
volving an application of what they have learned tD the 
business of life. ' This will lead them to study intelli- 
gently. Besides, as soon as they begin to see how their 
knowledge is to be useful to them, they have a new 
motive to exertion. They should be so taught as to 
discover that grammar will improve their understanding 
and use of language ; that writing will prepare them 
for business, and by enabling tliem to corniiitinicate. 
with their friends, will add to their enjoyment ; and so 
of reading and the other branches. 

7. Be careful to Use language wliich z> intelligible 
U) cldldren, wlieneve'f an explanation is given. The 



rONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 113 



Intelligible language. — An example quoted. 

object of an explanation is to elucidate, to make clearer. 
How is this object accomplished when the explanation 
is less intelligible than the thing explained ? Suppose 
a child should ask her teacher to explain the cause of 
cold in winter and heat in summer ; in other words, the 
cause of the change of seasons. " Oh, yes," says he, 
pleasantly. " The annual revolution of the earth round 
the sun in connection with the obliquity of the ecliptic, 
occasions the succession of the four seasons."* The 
child listens to these " words of learned length," and is 
astonished at the learning of her teacher, but she has 
no clearer idea than before of the point she mquired 
about. 

Mr. S. R. Hall in his lectures gives the following 
forcible illustration of the same point. " Will you 
please to tell me why I carry one for every ten ?" said 
little Laura to her instructor. " Yes, my dear," said 
he, kindly. " It is because numbers increase from right 
to left in a decimal ratio." Laura sat and repeated it 
to herself two or three times, and then looked very sad. 
The master, as soon as he had answered, pursued his 
other business and did not notice her. But she was 
disappointed. She understood him no better than if he 
had used words of another language. "Decimal" and 
" ratio" were words that might have fallen on her ear 
before, but if so, she understood them none the bettei 
for it. She looked in the dictionary and was disap- 
poirled again, and after some time, put away hei 

• Worcester's Geogiapliy, 

8 



114 CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 



Honest confession, — ^not mystification. — Example. 

anthmeiic When asked by her teacher why she did 
so, she lepUed, ' I don't like to study it ; I can't 
understand it ' " 

" Now the in ury to Httle Laura was very gieat. She 
had commenced the study with interest ; she had learned 
to answer a great many questions in arithmetic and had 
been pleased. She was now using a slate and writing 
her figures on it, and had found the direction to carry 
one for every ten. This she might have been made to 
understand. The master loved his scholars and wished 
to benefit them, but /or^o^ that terms perfectly plain to 
him would he unintelligible to the child. From that 
moment Laura dishked arithmetic, and every effort 
that could be used with her could not efface the im 
pression that it was a hard study, and she could not 
understand it." 

While upon this subject, I might urge that teachers 
should not resort to evasion when they are not able to 
explain. It is a much more honorable, and far more 
satisfactory course, for the teacher frankly to confess his 
inability to explain, than to indulge in some ridiculous 
mysticism to keep up the show of knowledge. I may 
never forget the passage I first made through the Rule 
of Three, and the manner in which my manifold per- 
plexities respecting " direct and inverse" proportion 
were solved. " Sir," said I, after puzzling a long lime 
over ' more requiring more and less requiring less' — 
" will you tell me why I sometimes multiply the second 
and third terms together and divide by the first: — and at 
other times multiply Xhe. first and secona and divide by 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 115 

More requires more ! — Accurate and prompt recitation. 

the third ?" " Why, because more requires more some- 
times, and sometimes it requires less — to be sure 
Haven't you read the rule, my boy ?" " Yes, sir, I can 
repeat the rule, but I don't understand it." " Why it 
is because ' more requires more and less requires less !' ' 
" But why, sir, do I multiply as the rule says ?" "Why, 
because ' more requires more and less requires less' — 
see, the rule says so." *' I know the rule says so, but 
I wished to understand why." — " Why ? why ?" look- 
ing at me as if idiocy itself trembled before him — 
" why ? — why because the rule says so ; dovHt you see 
^i^ — Jiy^More 7'equires more and less requires less !'^ 
*— and in the midst of this inexplicable combination of 
more and less, I shrunk away to my seat blindly to 
follow^ the rule because it said so. Such teaching as 
this is enough to stultify the most inquiring mind ; and 
It is to secure the blessing of relief from such influence 
to the children of any particular district, that we come 
to consider an occasional change of teachers a mitigated 
evil. 

8. Require prompt and accurate recitation. I know 
of nothing that will abate the interest of a class sooner 
than dull and dragging recitations. The temptation in 
such cases is very strong for the teacher to help the 
class by the " drawing-out process" before described. 
This, however, only makes the matter worse. The 
dull recitat"on calls for the teacher's aid ; and his Lid 
reproduces the dull recitation. The only way is to stop 
at once, and refuse to proceed till the recitation can go 
alone It is just as easy to have good lessons as poor ; 



116 CONDUCTING RECITATIONS 

It saves time. — Simultaneous recitation. — Its evils. 

and the teacher should have the energy to insist upon 
them. Mark the countenances of a clats as they go lo 
their seats after a good recitation. They feci that they 
have done something, and they look as if they valued 
the teacher's approbation and their ow^n so highly, that 
they will learn the next lesson still better. 

It is moreover a great saving of time, to have the 
lessons promptly recited. This saving will afford the 
opportunity to introduce those additional illustrations i 
have before suggested, in order to excite a still deeper 
interest. It may sometimes, though not always, be well 
to make a prompt and perfect recitation the condition 
of introducing the additional matter. 

9. ReJy not too much upon simultaneous recitation 
This has become quiie too fashionable of late. It had 
its origin in the large schools established some years 
since, known as Lancasterian schools, and perhaps was 
well enough adapted to schools kept upon that plan in 
large cities. But when this mode of reciting is adopted 
in our district and country schools, where the circum 
stances of large numbers and extreme backwardness 
are wanting, it is entirely uncalled for, and like other 
city fashions transferred to the country, is really out 
of place. 

Seriously, I look upon this as one of the prominent 
faults in many of our schools. It destroys all indepen- 
dence in the pupil by taking away his individuality . 
He moves with the phalanx. Learning to rely on others, 
he becomes superficial in his lessons. He is tempted 
to indolence by a knowledge that his defic'encievS will 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. I IT 

Sometimes al.owable.— When ? 

not Stand out by themselves ; and he comforts himself 
after a miserable recitation with the consoling reflection 
that he has been able to conceal his want of thorough- 
ness from his teacher. 

It may sometimes be useful. A few questions thus 
answered may serve to give animation to a class when 
their interest begins to flag ; but that which may serve 
as a stimulant must not be relied on for nutrition. 
As an example of its usefulness, I have known a 
rapid reader tamed into due moderation by being pul 
in companionship with others of slower speech, just as 
we tame a friskful colt by harnessing him into a team 
of grave old horses. But aside from some such definite 
purpose, I have seen no good come of this innovation. 
I am satisfied its prevalence is an evil, and worthy of 
the careful consideration of teachers. 

By the foregoing means and others which will sug 
gest themselves to the thoughtful teacher's mind, he 
can arouse the interest of his classes so that study will 
be more attractive than play. For this object every 
teacher should labor. It is of course impossible to give 
specific rules to meet every case ; it is not desirable to 
do it. The teacher, put upon the track, will easily 
devise his own expedients ; and his own, be it remem- 
bered, will usually he found the best for him. 

As a motive for every teacher to study carefully the 
art of teaching well at the recitation, it should be borne 
in mind that then and there he comes before his pupils 
in a peculiar and prominent manner ; it is there his mind 



118 CONDUCTING RECITATIONS 



The teacher makes his mark at recitation. 



comes specially in contact with theirs, and there that he 
lays in them, for good or for evil, the foundations of 
their mental habits. It is at the recitation in a peculiar 
manner, that he makes his mark upon their minds ; and 
as the seal upon the wax, so his mental character upon 
tlieirs leaves its impress behind ' 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 119 



A great question. — The interest in study an abiding one. 



CHAPTER VIIJ. 

EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY 

It is ever an nileresling question to the teacher, and 
one which he should consider with great care — " How 
can I excite an interest among my pupils in their 
studies ?" The intelligent teacher feels that this is the 
great question ; for he foresees that, if he fails here, his 
difficulty in governing his school will be very much 
increased. He therefore turns his attention with deep 
solicitude to the motives he may present, and the 
methods he may employ to awaken and keep alive the 
interest of the school. 

If he has reflected at all upon the subject, he has 
already arrived at the conviction, that it is necessary foi 
the good of all concerned that the interest awakened 
should be an abiding one ; that it should not only 
not abate during the term of school, but continue 
— nay, grow stronger and stronger — even after school- 
days have passed away. There is probably no greater 
mistake in educatio.n, than ihat of raising in school an 
artificial excitement, which may aid perhaps in securing 
better recitations, but which will do nothing toward 
putting the mind into such a state, that it will press on 



li^O EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY 

A common mistake. — Emulation. — Perplexity. 

in the pursuit of knowledge ever after the hving teacher 
has closed his labors. 

The higher principles of our nature being aroused 
with difficulty, are too apt to be neglected by the 
teacher, and thus they remain in their original feeble- 
ness ; while he contents himself with appealing to our 
Lwer characteristics, — thus doing a lasting injury by 
unduly cultivating and strengthening them, at the 
same time that he awakens after all but a temporary 
interest. 

In view of the importance of the subject, and the 
difficulty of judging aright upon it, I shall make no 
apology for devoting a few pages to the consideration of 

SECTION 1. — INCENTIVES TO STUDY-EMULATION. 

The teacher will find in a greater or less degree, in 
the mind of every child, the principle of Emulation. 
It is a question very much debated of late. What shall 
he do with it ? Much has been said and written on this 
question, and the ablest minds, both of past ages and 
the present, have given us their conclusions respecting 
It ; and it often increases the perplexity of the young 
teacher to find the widest difference of opinion on 
this subject among men upon whom in other things he 
would confidingly rely for guidance. Why, asks he, 
why is this ? Is there no such thing as truth in this 
matter ? or have these men misunderstood each other ^ 
When they have written with so much ability and 
so much earnestness, — some zealously recommending 



EXCITING \TEREST IN STUDY. 12^ 

Experimenting.— Its evil consequences. 

emulation as a safe and desirable principle to be 
encouraged in the young, and otliers as warmly de 
nouricing it as altogether unworthy and improper, — 
have they been thinking of the same thing? Thus 
perpicxed with conflicting opinions, he is thrown back 
upon his own reflection for a decision ; or what is more 
common, he endeavors to find the truth by experimenting 
upon his pupils. He tries one course for one term, and 
a different one the next ; repeats both during the third, 
and still finds himself unsettled as he commences the 
fourth. Meantime some of his experiments have wrought 
out a lasting injury upon the minds of his pupils ; for, 
if every teacher must settle every doubt by new experi 
ments upon his classes, the progress that is made in 
the science and art of teaching must be at the untold 
expense of each new set of children; — ^just as if the 
young doctor could lake nothing as settled by the ex 
pericnce of hi» predecessors, but must try over again 
for himself the eff'ect of all the various medical agents, 
in order to decide whether arsenic does corrode the 
stomach and produce death, — whether cantharides can 
be best applied inwardly or outwardly, — whether mer- 
cury is most salutary when administered in ounces or 
grains, or whether repletion or abstinence is preferable 
in a fever ! When such is the course of a young prac- 
titioner in a community, who does not confidently ex- 
pect the churchyard soon to become the most populous 
district, and the sexton to be the most thrifty persona<,^e 
in the village, unless indeed he too should become t!ie 
subject of experiment ? 



122 EXCITING INTEREST 3N STUDY 

Two senses. — Define the terras. — The good seu&e. 

But is there not a good sense and a bad sense, 
associated with the term Emulation ; —and have not 
these eager disputants fallen into the sanie error, in 
this matter, that the two knights committed, when they 
immolated each other in a contest about the question 
whether a shield was gold or silver, when each had 
■^een hut one side of it ? I incline to the opinion thai 
ihis is the case, — and that those who wax so warm in 
this contest, would do well to give us at the outset a 
careful definition of the term Emulation, as they 
intend to use it. This would perhaps save themselve.-? 
a great deal of toil, and their readers a great deal of 
perplexity. 

Now it seems to me the truth on this question lies 
within a nutshell. 1. If emulation means a desire for 
improvement, progress, growth, — an ardent wish to 
rise above one's present condition or attainments,— 
or even an aspiration to attain to eminence in the 
school or in the world, it is a laudable motive. This 
is self-emulation. It presses the individual on to 
surpass himself. It compares his present condition 
with what he would be — with what he ought to be ; 
and " forgetting those things which are behind, and 
reaching forth unto those which are before, he presses 
towarls the mark for the prize." "An ardor kindled 
by the praiseworthy examples of others, inciting to 
imitate them, or to equal, or even excel them, without 
the desire of depressing them,"* is the sense in whicb 



» Dr Wf^KiU^i- 



EXClTir«G INTEREST IH STUDY. 123 

Tlie bad sense.— Characteristica Ambition. 

the apostle uses the term [Romans xi. 14] wlien he 
says : *' If by any means I may provoke, to emulation 
them which are my flesh, and might save some cf 
them." If this be the meaning of emulation, it is every 
way a worthy principle to be appealed to in school. 
This principle exists to a greater or less extent in the 
mind of every child, and may very safely be strength- 
ened by being called by the teacher into lively exercise; 
provided always, that the eminence is sought from a 
desire to be useful, and not from a desire of self 
glorification. 

2. But if emulation, on the other hand, means a desire 
of surpassing others, for the sake of surpassing them , 
if it be a disposition that will cause an individual to be 
as well satisfied with the highest place, whether he has 
risen above his fellows by his intrinsic well-doing, or 
they have fallen below him by their neglect ; if it puts 
him in such a relation to others that their failures will 
be as gratifying to him as his own success ; if it be a 
principle that prompts the secret wish in the child thai 
others may miss their lessons, in order to give him an 
opportunity to gain applause by a contrast with theii 
abasement, — then, without doubt it is an unworthy and 
unholy principle, and should never be encouraged or 
appealed lo by the teacher. It has no similitude to 
*thut spirit which prompts a man to " love his neighboi 
as himself." It has none of that generosity which 
rejoices hi the success of others. Carried out in 
after-life, it becomes ambition, such as fired the 
breast of a Napoleon, who sought a throne for liim- 



124 EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY, 

The two views of emulation compared. 

8elf, though he waded through the blood of millions to 
obtain it. 

It is to this principle that the apostle, before quotea, 
alludes, when he classes emulation with the " works 
of the flesh," which are these : " adultery, fornication, 
imrleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, haired, 
variance. Emulation, wrath, strife, seditions, &c., — of 
the which things, I tell you before, as I have told you 
in times past, that they which do such things shall not 
inherit the kingdom of God." It is of this principle 
that the commentator, Scott, remarks :—" This thirst 
for human applause has caused more horrible violations 
of the law of love, and done more to desolate the earth, 
ihan even the grossest sensuahty ever did." 

Thus Emulation is a term which indicates a very 
good or a very bad thing, according to the definition 
we give it. In one view of it, the warmest aspirings 
to rise are consistent with a generous wish that others 
may rise also. It is even compatible with a heartfelt 
satisfaction in its possessoi at the progress of others, 
though they should outstrip nim in his upward course. 
It is the spirit which actuates all true Christians, as 
ihey wend their way heavenward, rejoicing the more 
as they find the way is thronged with those who hope 
to gain an immortal crown. 

In the other view of it, we see men actuated by 
selfishness mingled with pride, inquiring, in the spirit of 
tliose mentioned in scripture, "Who among us shall be 
the greatest ?" We everywhere see men violating these 
sjicred injunctions of divine wisdom: " Let no mai» 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STliDY. 125 

The teaclier'B duty. — Objections.— Answers. 

seek his own, but every man another's weahh/' " Lei 
notmng be done through strife or vain-glory ; but in 
lowhness of mind, let each esteem other better than 
themselves." — " In honor preferring one another." 

If such be the true pictures of emulation, in both 
the good and the bad sense, certainly teachers can 
not hesitate a moment as to their duty. They may 
appeal to the principle first described, — cultivate and 
strengthen it ; and in so doing, they may be sure they 
are doing a good work. But unless they intend to 
violate the teachings of common sense, and the higher 
teachings of Christianity, / know not how they can 
appeal to the principle of emulation as defined in the 
second case. 

But it m.ay be urged that the teacher will find 
emulation, even in this latter sense, existing in human 
nature ; that he cannot get rid of it if he will ; that 
it will be one of the most active principles to which 
he can resort in arousing the mind to exertion ; and, 
furthermore, that it has been appealed to by many of 
the most eminent teachers time out of mind. 

To this it is replied, that it is not disputed that chil 
dren are selfish ; and that this selfishness may indeed 
be made a powerful instrumentality in urging them 
forward to the attainment of a temporary end. But 
does the existence of selfishness prove that it needs 
cultivation in tlie human character? And will the end, 
when attahied, justify the means ? Is the end, whatever 
it may be, if attained at such a cost, i blessinsj to be 



126 EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 

Further objections. — Emulation not essential to succesi. 

desired ? Will not the heart suffer more than the head 
will gain ? 

It may be further urged, that the child will find the 
world full of this principle when he leaves the school ; 
and why, it is asked, should he at school be thrown into 
an unnatural position ? I answer that evil is net to be 
overcome by making evil more prevalent, — andThough 
there may be too much of self-seeking in the world, 
that is the very reason why the teacher should not 
encourage its growth. The more true Christianity 
prevails in the world, the less there will be of that 
spirit which rejoices at another's halting ; hence I am 
convinced the teacher should do nothing to make that 
spirit more prevalent. 

Nor is it essential to the progress of the pupil even 
temporarily, since there are other and worthier princi- 
ples which can be as successfully called into actioru 
If we look carefully at the expediency of thus stimu- 
lating the mind, we find that after the first trial of 
strength, many become disheartened and fall behind in 
despair. It will soon be obvious, in a class of twenty, 
who are the/ew; that will be likely to surpass all others; 
and therefore all the others, as a matter of course, fal' 
back into envy, perhaps into hopeless indifference. 
Who has not seen this in a class in spelling, for instance, 
where the strife was for the ^^head'^ of the class, but 
where all but two or three were quite as well satisfied 
with being at the ^^foot .<"' It does not then accomphsh 
the purpose for which it is employed ; and since those 
who are aroused by it, are even more injured than 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 1*27 



The cojiclusioa, — Prizes. — Hoiiest investigation. 



those who are mdifferent, their undesirable qualities 
neing thus strengthened, the opinion is entertained 
that those teachers are the most wise, who bend their 
ingenuity to find some other means to awaken the 
minds of the children under their charge. 

From what has been said, then, Emulation is to be 
recognised or repudiated among the incentives of the 
schoolroom, according to the signification we assign 
<o the term. 

SECTION n.-PRIZES. 

It has for a long time been the custom of teachers tw 
offer some prize as an incentive to exertion in school ; 
a pri'ze of ^ome pecuniary value, a book, or a medal- 
In some places beneficent individuals have bestowed 
by legacy the means to purchase annually the prizes 
thus to be used. Every young teacher is called upon, 
therefore, to inquire whether such an incentive is a 
proper one to be employed in the schoolroom. If 
there is any good to be expected from such an incen- 
tive, will it counterbalance the evils that spring from 
the practice ? Will the good of the whole school be 
promoted by such a measure, — and will this be a per- 
manent or a temporary good ? These are questions 
which press for an honest answer; and the faithful 
teacher should not shrink from a careful investigation 
uf the whole matter; and if he finds good reason to 
differ from time-honored authority, he should abide by 
die truth rather than by prescriptive usage. 

Id. my own case, I may be allowed t© say, my mmd 



J 28 EXCITING INTEREST IN STCDi. 

Experience. — Its result.-:— Reasons jissigned. 

was early turned lo this point ; though, I confess, with 
a strong bias in favor of the use of prizes. Pretty 
thoroughly for a series of years did I test their efficacy, 
but with a growing conviction, that the prize was not 
the proper instrumentality to create a healrhy interest 
m the school. This conviction acquired additional 
strength by three or four years' trial of other incentives ; 
und it was fully confirmed afterwards by a trial made 
for the purpose of testing again the efficacy of a prize, 
at an age when I could more carefully watch the 
workings of the human mind, and better appreciate the 
benefits or evils resulting from such a measure. I am 
now free to say that I am satisfied that prizes offered to 
a school in such a way that all may compete for them 
and only two or three obtain them, will always be pro- 
ductive of evil consequences, far overbalancing any 
temporary or partial good that may arise from them, 
an d"^ therefore they ought not to be used as incitements 
in our schools* 

Havmg expressed an opinion so decidedly upon a 
measure which claims among its friends and advocates 
some of the best minds m the country, I shall be 
expected to assign some reasons for the failh I enter 
lain. From this I shall not shrink. I proceed there- 
fore to express such object'ons to the use of prizes, as 



* It may be well to remind the reader that I h: ve used the term Prizes 
here in contradistinction from a system of liewaids, by which the teachei 
proposes to give some token of his regard to every one who does ^eit, — and 
the more brilliant success of a few does not necessarily preclude others from 
participating in the favor according to their merit. Of such a system oi 
Rewards I shall have something to saypreseatlj 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 129 



Prize liecomes the leading motive. — Engenders rivalry. 



have been suf^gested to my mind by my own experi- 
ence, and confirmed by the experience and observation 
of others in whom I have great confidence. 

I. The offer of a prize gives undue prominencp 
to a comjjaratively unworthy object. It })ractically 
teaches the child to undervalue the higher reward of a 
good conscience, and a love of learning for its own 
sake. The dazzling medal is placed in the foreground 
of his field of vision ; and it is very likely to eclipse 
those less show^y but more abiding rewards found in a 
sense of duty and a desire to be qualified for usefulness. 
In studying his lesson he thinks of the prize. He 
studies that he may merely . recite well ; for it is a 
good recitation that wins the prize. He thinks not of 
duly, or of future usefulness ; the prize outshines all 
other objects. 

II. The pursuit of a prize engenders a spirit of 
rivalry among the pupils. Rivalry in pursuit of an 
object which only one can attain, and which all others 
must lose, must end in exultation on the part of the 
winner, and disappointment and envy on the part of tiie 
losers. It may be said, this ought not to he so ; but 
seldom can it be said, that it is 7iot so. Such is human 
nature, and such it ever will be. Unpleasant feehngs — 
sometimes concealed, to be sure — but generally ex- 
pressed in unequivocal terms — grow out of the award 
of almost every school prize, and sometimes continue 
to exert their baleful influence through Jife. Now as 
long as human nature brings forth unlovely traits almost 
spontaneously, such direct efforts to cultivate tliem 



130 EXCniNG INTEREST IN STUDlt . 

The few only are stimulated. — Exceptions. — In spite of the system. 

surely are not called for. It is the part o( wisdom, 
then, to omit such culture and avoid such results, espe- 
cially when safer means are so accessible. 

Ill The hope of gaining the pi'ize stimulates only 
the few, while the many become indifferent. This is 
admitted to be true even by the advocates of tlie prize 
system. Let a prize be offered in any class as a reward 
for the best scholarship, and in a very few days it be 
comes perfectly obvious to all who the two or three 
are that will be likely to outstrip all the others. These 
two or three will be stimulated to exertion ; but the 
strife is left entirely to them. All others, despairing of 
success, resolve at once to " let their moderation be 
known to all men ;" and since the prize has been made 
so prominent an object, they cannot be expected now to 
look at any thing above and beyond it. Feeling that 
they are not likely to participate in the honors of the 
class, they have but little disposition to share in its 
toils. 

This to be sure is not always so. There are 
some, who, ceasing to strive for the prize, toil for the 
more substantial blessing — a good education, — and in 
the end come out the best scholars. This is the way 
indeed most of our strong men are made ; for it has 
Jong been remarked that the prize scholars in our 
schools, and even in our colleges, do not usually be 
come the most distinguished men. On the other hand, 
many of them are never heard of after receiving their 
honors. But, thougli some of the slower scholars do 
thus hit upon the true path to eminence, it is aot to be 



EXCITING lIsTEREST IN STUDY. i3l 



Wliy prj«e scholars fiutiJly fail— The teachei slwulil mach ail. 



set to th-e credit of ihe system ; they rise in spite ^( 
the system rather than by virtue of it ; while the ulli 
mate failure of the prize scholars is usually directly 
attributable to the defect of the system ; for having 
been unduly stimulated to study solely with reference 
to recitation, and not with regard to future useful tiess 
their memories have been developed out of all propor- 
tion to the other faculties of their minds ; and, though 
they may have been very good reciters, they have no 
power to become independent thinkers. Under differ- 
ent training they might have become strong men. 

But to look no further than the school, the remark 
holds true in general, that prizes stimulate the few, and 
the many become indifferent not only to prizes, but to 
other and better motives. That system of incentives 
only can be approved, which reaches and influences 
successfully all the mind subjected to its operatioa. 

Nor is this an unimportant consideration. It is not 
sufficient praise for a teacher that he has a few good 
%=cholars in his school. Almost any teacher can call 
^ U the talent of the active scholars and make them 
brilliant reciters. The highest merit, however, lies 
in reaching all the pupils, the dull as w^ell as the 
active, and in making the most of them, or rather in 
leading them to make the most of themselves. It 
li'hould be remembered oi every child, that the present 
'\& his inly opportunity of being a child, and of receiv 
ing the training appropriate to childhood ; and thai 
' teacher who rests satisfied with a system that does not 
reach the many, while he amuses himself and his visit 



132 EXCITING INTEilEST IN STUDY 

Difficulty in awarding the prize. — Judges disagree. — A fact. 

ors with the precocity of a few of his most active 
.clioiars, is recreant to his responsible trust. 

IV. There is much difficulty in awarding the prize 
so as to do strict justice to all. So many things are to 
he taken into the account in order to determine the 
excellence of a performance compared with otheis, thai 
some particulars are very likely to be overlooked. 
Those who are called to judge of the results often d's- 
agree among themselves. The following anecdote will 
illustrate this. Three literary gentlemen were appoint- 
ed to select the best from several compositions, pre 
sented by a class, who had written them in competition 
for a gold medal. Each of the gentlemen carefully 
read the whole number in private, and conscientiously 
selected the best according to his judgment. When 
they came together to compare results, it was found 
that each m.an had selected the best, but that no two 
had selected the same ! They carefully read and com 
pared the three, and still each insisted that his origina) 
choice was the best. After much debate and consid 
erable delay, one of the parties being obliged to go to 
his business, relieved himself from a painful detention, 
and his friends from a perplexing doubt, by saying he 
believed the composition he had selected was the best 
but, as he could not stop to claim its rights, he would 
yield them in favor of the second best in the hands of 
one of his associates. This ended the dispute, and 
the action in favor of the successful one, was declarcj 
to be unanimous ! 

This only proves how difficult it is to decide ; anf^ 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDV. 133 



The piirlies dissatisfied.— Various external aids : exemj lifted. 



in the case just cited, it might well be asked, wliy 
should one of these competitors be held up to the mal 
titude to be applauded and admired, and the others sent 
back to their classes covert d with the shame of a failure ^ 
What principle of justice sanctioned this decision 1 

Nor is this a solitary instance. It rarely happens 
mat the case is perfectly clear. There is usually 
much perplexity about it ; and hence one reason 
why the decision seldom satisfies the friends of the 
parties either in the school or at home. But other 
considerations besides the intrinsic merits of the per 
formance are to be taken into account in awarding a 
prize ; as, 

1. A difference in the external facilities ivhich the 
competitors enjoy for getting the lessons. One pupil 
may be the son of poverty, and be compelled to labor 
during all the hours out of school ; another may be in 
easy circumstances, and have nothing to prevent giving 
undivided attention to study during the whole day. 
One may be the child of parents who have no power to 
render assistance by way of explaining a difficult point ; 
while the other may have all his doubts removed at 
once by parental aid. One may never even be encour- 
aged by a kind word at home ; another is constantly 
urged to effort, and perhaps not allowed to be idle. 
One ma} have access to no books but bis school- 
manuals ; the other may have at his command a large 
library. This difference in circumstances should be 
taken into the account ; but it never can be fully un- 
derstood by those who are called to decide. 



134 F.XCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 



[mproper means used. — An " authoress ! 



2. The improper means which may have been em- 
ployed to secure the prize. Ambition when aroused is 
TiOt a]wa3^s scrupulous of its means. One competitor 
ir.ay be highminded ; may enter the arena determined 
to succeed by an honorable strife ; may resolve to 
succeed by his own exertions, or to fail rather than 
brmg in any thing which is not the fruit of his own 
study. Another, regardless of honor or principle, re- 
solves only to succeed, whatever it may cost ; hesitates 
not to copy from others if possible, or to apply to a 
brother in college or some friend in the High School to 
furnish the difficult solution, prepared to order. One 
young lady spends days and nights in arranging the 
glowing tlioughts for her composition, determined if 
industry, study, good taste, and a careful application 
of the rules of rhetoric can effect any thing, that her 
[)roduction shall be worthy of a prize. Another, in 
no way distinguished for scholarship, industry, or honor, 
writes a careless letter to a married sister in a distant 
city, invoking her aid. In due time the mail brings an 
elegant essay. It is copied with sufficient accuracy to 
be read, and at the examination takes the prize ! The 
fair ' authoress' stands forth and is flattered before the 
multitude,— is perhaps made to believe that she is 
worthy of praise ; she grasps the golden bauble, and, 
covered with the blushes of modesty, receives the con- 
gratulations and caresses of friends, and is afterwards 
reputed a good scholar. Her competitors meantime 
become convinced tha'. effort cannot rival genius ; ihey 
ure mortified to think thev have presumed to enter the 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 135 



Abuses.— System unsafe.— Success overrated. 



arena with native talent, and become disheartened as tc 
a[iy future attempt. 

Now where is the justice in all this proceeding! 
Yet tliis is not fiction ; it is history ! If such abuses- 
abuses that might well make an angel weep, reveahng, 
as hey do, that woman's heart can be thus 'sold tc: 
deception — are the accompaniments of a prize system, 
may we not well doubt the utility of that system ? 

Yet who can know either the different facihties 
enjoyed by the competitors, or the want of principle in 
some of them ? Who can enter the secret chambers 
of the mind or the heart, and estimate wdth any accu- 
racy the just amount of merit in any action? This is 
God's prerogative ; while " man looketh only on the 
outward appearance." My inference then is : A sys- 
tem can hardly he safe which is so uncertain. 

V. The prize rewards success, not effort ; tal- 
ent, not WORTH. Every one knows that in estimating 
the value and virtue of an action, the motive which 
prompted it, and the effort it necessarily cost, should 
be taken into the account. Every one knows, too, that 
success in study is by no means a criterion by which to 
judge of the merits of the scholar. Some learn their 
lessons with great facility and with but little effort ; 
others study long and patiently without any brilliant 
results. One competitor for a prize may bring results 
which have cost him midnight toil and the most unre- 
mitting perseverance ; another with brighter parts, and 
with but little labor, is able to surpass him, and takes 
tlie medal. ]\ow the former deserves in a far hif];hoi 



i.'iO EXCITING lA TERES r IN STUDY. 



Hut God rewards —How ?— Studying for a prize only. 

degree the encouragemenl of the reward ; yet it is giver 
to him who has the talent but who lacks the industry 
The rule of Scripture which announces that " to whom 
much is given, of him shall much be required" is 
violated, and he is rewarded for producing but little 
more tMn the one to whom little is given. 

It is often urged by those who advocate a system of 
prizes and rewards, that God rewards ; and therefore 
it is at least justifiable that we should imitate his ex- 
ample. I admit that God, in his .government, does 
reward ; but he rewards effort rather than success ; he 
" looketh upon the heart" as man cannot do, and re- 
wards worth, not, talent. We might, indeed, imitate 
his example, if we had less -frailty, and were not so 
hable to be imposed upon by th© outward appearance 
God indeed rewards men ; but he estimates the secret 
intention, seeing the inward springs of thought before 
they find expression in words or actions. He regards 
the motive, and holds out- for the encouragement of the 
humblest child of earth- who does the best he can, as 
rich a crown of glory, as he does for those whose out- 
ward circumstances, in the eyes of mortals, are moie 
auspicious. When man can as wisely and as righte- 
ously bestow his prizes and rewards, there will be 
far less objection to their use. 

VJ. The pupil who studies for a prize as his chief 
nudive, vjill seldom continue to study lohen the prize is 
withdrawn. This is so obvious as scarcely to need 
illustration. If it be necessary to add any thing to the 
mere s.atemcnt of the fact, an appeal to almost univer 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 137 



Argument perverted.—" He is studying for the prize." 



sal experience would confirm it. A teacher who has 
depended upon prizes in a school, finds it very difficult 
to awaken an interest there when he withdraws the 
prize. Hence many have, on trying the experiment of 
abandoning the prize system, become discouraged, and 
have returned again to the use of prizes, behoving them 
essential to their success. Thus the very argument 
which shows most clearly their pernicious tendency, id 
made a reason for continuing them. As before hinted, 
the prize scholars in our academies, and even our col- 
leges, are seldom distinguished men in after-life, — a fact 
that speaks conclusively on this point. But it can 
scarcely be necessary to spend words to prove a truth 
almost self-evident. 

VII. By the prize ^system, the influence of the good 
example of some of the best pupils, is lost upon the 
school. All who have taught, know how important 
this influence is to the success of the school. It 
tells with resistless power upon the other scholars, 
wherever it exists, unless some unworthy motive can 
be assigned for it. But under the prize system, let 
a teacher appeal to the example of his best scholars, 
and the reply is, " Oh, yes, he behaves w;ell, or he 
studies diligently, but he is trying to get the prizej^ 
With this understanding, his example becomes pow- 
erless, unices, indoed, there may be a disposition to 
be unlike him in every ihing. It is believed this is 
a consideration of considerable importance. 

1 have thus assigned, at some lenglh, the- reasons 
why I should discountenance, among the inceniive.s 



138 EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDV. 



System of rewards. — Not necessary. — Why not I 

of the school, the use of Prizes. As to the use of 
'' Rewards,^^ when they are made so numerous th«it 
every one who is really deserving may receive one, — 
and when the basis of their distribution is not talent, 
not success merely, but good intention and praise- 
worthy effort, — I i ave much less to say. As expres- 
sions of the teacher's interest in the children, and 
of his approval of their well-doing, they may serve a 
good end. Perhaps there is no very strong objection 
to them in principle ; though if the teacher subjects 
himself to the necessary outlay in the purchase of 
them, it may become burdensome to him. I may 
add, however, that / do not think rewards are ne- 
cessary to the teacher''s success. I should prefer tc 
do without them. It is possible to produce such 
a feeling in the schoolroom, that the approving con- 
science of the child, and the commendatory smile of 
the teacher, shall be the richest of all rewards. 
These come without money and without price, and 
may always be freely and safely bestowed, wherever 
there is a good intention exhibited by the child. That 
is the most healthy state of things where these are 
most prized. As children whose parents begin early 
to hire them to do their duty, are seldom ready after- 
wards to render their cheerful service as an act of 
filial obligation, whenever the pay is withheld, — so 
children at schcK)l, who have been accustomed tc 
expect a reward, seldom pursue their studies as 
cheerfuUv when that expectation is cut off. 



* 

EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 1 3«J 



Safe incentives.— Approbation of friends. 



SECTION III. -PROPER INCENTIVES. 

In what has already been said, it has been more 
than hinted that there are higher attributes tlmn emu- 
lation, which the teacher should address, and which, 
if he is successful in calling them into exercise, will 
be quite sufficient to ensure the proper application of 
his pupils to their studies. They have the merit, 
moreover, of being safe. They do not unduly stim- 
ulate the intellectual, at the expense of the moral 
faculties. Their very exercise constitutes a healthy 
growth of the moral nature. Some of these I mav 
briefly allude to. 

I. A DESIRE TO GAIN THE APPROBATION OF THEIJv 

PARENTS AND TEACHER. The love of approbation is 
as universal in the human mind as emulation. Not 
one in a thousand can be found who does not possess it. 
Within proper limits, it is a desirable trait in human 
character. It is, to be sure, one of the selfish propen- 
sities ; but among them all, it is the most innocent. 
Carried to an extreme, it would lead its possessor to 
crave the good opinion of the bad as well as of the 
good, and to become an obsequious seeker after 
popularity. This, of course, is to be deprecated. 
But there can be no danger of this extreme, as long 
as the approbation of parents and teachers is the 
object aimed at. It implies in the child a respect for 
the opinions, and a confidence in the justice of his 
parents and teachers ; and hence it implies in him n 



140 EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 

" Twice blest."— Desire to advance,— to be useful. 

generous desire to please, as a condition of being 
commended by them. 

In this sense, the love of approbation may be 
appealed to by the teacher. He perhaps need not 
.frequently use the language of praise. It will gen- 
erally be sufficient, if the smile of approval beams 
forth in his countenance. If he is judicious as well 
as just, this boon soon becomes a precious one to 
the child. It is a reward, moreover, which 

" is twice blest ; 
It blesseth him who gives and him who takes." 

II. A DESIRE OF ADVANCEMENT. This is emula- 
tion in its good sense. It leads the child, as before 
remarked, to compare his present standing and attain- 
ments with what they should be, and to desire to 
surpass himself. This is ever commendable. Man 
was made for progress ; and it is no unworthy aspi 
ration, when this desire fires the youthful breast 
The teacher, then, may appeal to this desire, may 
kindle it into a flame even, with safety, — because it 
is a flame that warr^g without consuming that on which 
it feeds. 

III, A DESIRE TO BE USEFUL. The good teachci 
should never fail to impress upon the child that the 
object of his being placed on earth, was that he might 
be of some use to the world by which he is surrounded. 
" No man hveth to himself, and no man dieth to him- 
self." He can be thus useful by storing the mind with 
knowledge and the heart with right aff'ections He 



fc'XClTlNG 1^^ERES IN STUDY. 141 

Future application of knowledge.— Desire to do right. 

may be reminded of the connection between his present 
studies, and the pursuits of hfe to which they may be 
applied. Some judicious hint at the future apphcation 
of any branch is always a good preparation of the mind 
to pursue it. If there is a definite object in view, there 
will always be more alacrity in the labor of study ; and 
this may be made to influence the young pupil as well 
as the more advanced. Tt is no small thing for the 
child if he can be early made' to feel that he is living to 
some purpose. 

IV. A DESIRE TO DO RIGHT. This, in other words, 
iS a disposition to obey conscience by conforming to 
the will of God. This indeed is the highest and holi 
est of all the motives to human action. In its fullest 
sense it constitutes the fundamental principle of a reli • 
gious character. The teacher should most assiduously 
cultivate in the child a regard for this principle. God 
has implanted the conscience in every child of earth, 
that it should early be made use of to regulate the con- 
duct. That teacher is either grossly ignorant or madly 
perverse, who disregards the conscience, while he ap- 
peals alone to the selfi_shness of the young, and thus 
practically teaches that moral obligation is a nulhty ; 
that the law of God — so beautifully-expounded by the 
Saviour — " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," 
and " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" — is 
of little consequence ; and that the injunction of the 
apostle — "Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye 
do, do all to the glory of God," is as good as obsolete 



142 EXCITING INTEREST llS' SlUliV^. 



Conscience active in childhood.— Sense of obligation. 

In early childhood the conscience is most active, ll 
needs, to be sure, at that period to be enhghtened ; bat 
if the teachings of Revelation are made plain to the 
child, he seldom disregards them. The teacher has at 
this period very much to do, as I have before said in 
the chapter on Responsibility of Teachers ; and he 
cannot neglect his duty without the most aggravated 
culpability. The point I urge here, is, that he should 
use iJiese motives as incentives to study. The child 
can he made to feel that he owes the most diligent 
efforts for improvement to his teacher, who daily labors 
for his improvement ; to his parents, who have kindly 
supplied his wants, and have provided the means for his 
cultivation ; to society, whose privileges he may enjoy 
ai)d to which he is bound to make a return by becom- 
ing an intelligent and useful member of it ; to himself, 
as a rational and immortal being, capable of unbounded 
enjoyment or untold misery, just in proportion as he pre 
pares himself for either ; and above all to his Creator, 
by whose bounty he lives, surrounded with friends and 
blessed with opportunities, which are denied to millions 
of his fellow-beings, — by whose gracious providence he 
has been endowed with faculties and capabilities making 
him but little lower than the angels, and which he is 
bound to cultivate for usefulness and for heaven, — by 
whose mercy he has been supplied, as millions have not, 
with the word of God, to guide his mind to things above, 
and with he influences of Christian society, to cheer 
liim in hirf path to heaven ; — above all, I repeat, should 
the chih; .ae taught to feel that he owes to God h>s l^esi 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STLUY 143 

The pleasure of acquisition.— Acquirements of three years. 

efforts to make the most of all his powers for time and 
eternity. If this can be done, (and 1 oelieve to a great 
extent it can be done,) there will be no need of a resort I 
to those questionable incentives found in exciting chil- 
dren to outstrip their fellows by prizes and rewards ; 
wliile in this very process the foundation of a good 
moral training will be laid, without which the perfect 
structure of a noble character can never be reared in 
later life. 

To the motives already alluded to, if it be necessary 
to add another, I would urge, 

V. The pleasure of acoujsition. This is often 
underrated by teachers. Our Creator has not more 
universally bestowed a natura' appetite for the food 
which is necessary for the grow'h of the body, than he 
has a mental longing for the food of the mind ; and as 
he has superadded a sensation of jJeasure to the neces- 
sary act of eating, so he has made it a law of the mind 
to experience its highest delight while in the act of re- 
ceiving the mental aliment. Whoever has observed 
childhood with an attentive eye, must have been im- 
pressed with the wisdom of God in this arrangement. 
How much the child acquires within the first three 
years after its birth ! He learns a difficult language 
with more precision thar a weJl-educated adult for- 
eigner could learn it in the same lime ; yet language is 
not his only or his chief study. During these same 
three years, he makes surprising advances in general 
knowledge. He seeks an intimate acquaintance with 
dll tl)C physical objects by which he is surrounded 



144 EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 



Mr. Mann quoted.— The blind and the dumb. 



The sizCj form, color, weight, temperature, and use of 
each are investigated by the test of his own senses, or 
ascertained by innumerable inquiries. His ideas of 
height and distance, of light and heat, of motior and 
velocity, of cause and effect, are all well defined. He 
has made no mean attainments in morals. He com- 
prehends the law of right and wrong so that his deci- 
sions may well put to the blush his superiors in age ; 
and unless grossly neglected, he has learned the duty 
of obedience to parents and reverence towards God. 
Now all this amazing progress has been made, because 
of the irrepressible curiosity with which God has en 
dowed him, and the unspeakable delight he experiences 
in acquiring the knowledge which gratifies it. 

All must have noticed the dehght with which the 
child grasps a new idea ; but few have been able so 
eloquently to describe it, as it is done by Mr. Mann 
" Mark a child," says he, " when a clear, well-defined 
vivid conception seizes it. The whole nervous tissue 
vibrates. Every muscle leaps. Every joint plays. 
The face becomes auroral. The spirit flashes through 
the body like lightning through a cloud." 

"• Observe, too, the blind, the deaf, and the dumb. 
So strong is their inborn desire for knowledge, — such 
are the amazing attractive forces of their minds for it, 
that although the natural inlets, the eye and the ear, are 
closed, yet they will draw it inward, through the solid 
walls and encasements of the body. If the eye be cur- 
tamed with darkness, it w^ill enter through the ear. If 
the ear be closed in silence, it will ascend along the 



EXCITING INTERESl IN STUDY. 145 

This pleasure abates in after life.— Mind may be surfeited. 

nerves of touch. Every new idea thai enters into the 
presence of the sovereign nnind, carries offerings of 
dehght with it, to make its coming welcome. Indeed, 
our Maker created us in blank ignorance, for the ver^ 
purpose of giving us the boundless, endless pleasure 
of learning new things." 

It is, of course, not to be expected that the same 
degree of pleasure will attend the learner in every 
acquisition as the novelty diminishes, and as he ad 
vances in age. The bodily appetite is less keen in 
after life than in childhood, so that the adult may nevei 
realize again to the full extent the delicious flavors 
which regaled him in his earliest years. Still there 
will ever be a delight in acquisition ; and to carry our 
illustration a little further, — as the child is soonest 
cloyed whose stomach is surfeited with dainties, and 
stimulated with condiments, and pampered with sweet 
meats, till his taste has lost its acumen and digestion 
becomes a burden ; so the mental appetite is soonest 
destroyed, when, under the unskillful teacher, it is 
overloaded, with what it can neither digest nor dis- 
gorge. The mind may be surfeited ; and then no 
wonder if it loaths even the wholesome aliment. Arti- 
hcial stimulants, in the shape of prizes, and honors 
and flattery, and fear, and shame, may have impaired 
its functions, so that it ceases to act except under their 
excitement. But all must see that these are unnatural 
conditions, superinduced by erroneous treatment. There 
IS still a delight in acquisition, just as soon as the 
Acuities aie aroused to the effort; and the skillful 

10 



146 EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 

A desire to know. — Instance of God'is wisdom and goodness. 

teacher will strive to wake up the mind to find this 
delight, — and if he understands his work, he will 
scarcely need a stronger incentive. If he understands 
the secret of giving just so much instruction as to 
excite the learner's curiosity, and then to leave him 
to discover and acquire for himself, he will have no 
necessity to use any other means as stimulants t«» 
exertion. 

To this might be added that irrepressible curiosity 
that all-pervading desire to know, which is found in 
the mind of every child. The mind, as if conscious 
of its high destiny, instinctively spreads its unfledged 
wings in pursuit of knowledge. This, with some chil- 
dren, is an all-sufficient stimulant to the most vigorous 
exertion. To this the teacher may safely appeal. Jn 
deed, it is a convincing proof of the wisdom as well as 
the goodness of God, that this desire to know, as well 
as the delight of acquisition, are the most active a 
that early period of childhood, when a just apprecia 
tion of the utility of knowledge, and the higher motives 
already detailed, could scarcely find a lodgement in the 
tender mind. It seems to be, therefore, an indisputable 
dictate of our very nature, that both these principLes 
should be early employed as incentives. 

If, then, the desire of the approval of parents and 
teachers, — the desire of advancement, — the desire to be 
useful, — and the desire to do right, can be superadded 
lo thfe natural love in the child for acquisition, and a 
natural desire to know, there will, as J believe, be but 
little occasion to look further for incentn cs* to exertion 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 147 

A scliolium. 

in the pupil ; and I may venture to add, as a scholium 

to what has already been said, that the teacher who 

has not yet learned to call into exercise these higher I 

motives, and to rely for success mainly upon them, 

and who dares not abandon the system of exciting 

stimulants for fear of a failure, has yet much to learn 

(US a true educator of the young. 



148 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 



ttder neceEsary in school.— Self-government in the teaclior. 



CHAPTER IX. 

SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 

It is nor necessary that any space in this work 
should be occupied in speaking of the importance of 
order in our schools. Everybody who has written or 
spoken on this subject, has conceded the necessity 
of obedience on the part of the pupil. " Order is 
HEAVEN^s FIRST LAW ;" and it is scarcely more essen- 
tial to the harmony of heaven, than it is to the happi- 
ness and success of the school. 

If such be the necessity of order in the school, then 
the ability to secure and maintain it is no mean part 
of the qualification of the good teacher. It is lament- 
able that so many fail in this particular ; and yet this 
frequent failure can in most cases be traced to some 
defect in the constitutional temperament, or some de- 
ficiency in the mental or moral culture of the teacher 
himself. It shall be my first object, then, to point out 
some of the 

SECTION I. — REQUISITES IN THE TEACHER FOR GOOD 
GOVERNMENT 

I. Self-government. It has frequently been said 
that no man can govern others till he has learned to 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 149 



Angry passions.— Manner.— Levity and morosencsa. 

govern himself. I have no doubt of the truth o^ this. 
If an individual is not perfectly self-possessed, his 
decisions must fail to command respect. The seif- 
government of the teacher should be complete, in the 
following particulars : 

1. As to the passion of anger The exhibition of 
anger alw^ays detracts from the vi^eight of authority 
A. man under its influence is not capable of doing strict 
justice to his pupils. Before entering upon teaching, 
therefore, a man should somehow obtain the mastery 
over his temper, so that under any provocation he can 
control it. He should consider that in school his pa^ 
tience vt^ill often be severely tried. He should not 
expect, indeed, that the current of affairs in school 
will for a single day run perfectly smooth. He should, 
therefore, prepare for the worst, and firmly resolve 
that, whatever unpleasant thing shall occur, it shall 
not take him entirely by surprise. Such forethought 
will give him self-command. If, however, from his 
past experience, and from the nature of his tempera- 
ment, he is satisfied he cannot exercise this self-control, 
he may be assured he is the wrong man to engage in 
teaching. A man who has not acquired thorough 
ascendancy over his own passions, is an unsafe man to 
be intrusted with the government of children. 

2. As to levity and moroseness of manner. Either 
extreme is to be avoided. There are some teachers 
who exhibit such a frivolity in all their intercourse 
with their pupils, that they can never command them 
with authority, or gain their cordial respect. This is a 



150 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 



Ridiculous assuniptiou of smartness.— Mr. Abbot's case, 

grievous fault ; and the teacher should at once find an 
antidote for it, by serious reflection upon the responsi- 
bility of his position. If this will not cure it, nothing 
else can. 

There are others who ar3 characterized by a per 
petual peevishness, so that a pleasant word from them 
is indeed a strange thing. They can never expect to 
gain the affections of their pupils ; and without secu- 
ring the love of children, the government of them will 
never he of the eight kind. This habit of snappishness 
should be broken up at once. 

There are some very young teachers, who some 
times assume one or the other of these peculiar modes 
of address, or perhaps both, to be used alternately, — 
fancying that they will gain popularity by the one, or 
give themselves greater authority by the other. This 
is a very mistaken notion ; for children have more 
discernment than most men give them credit for, and 
they usually see directly through such a flimsy dis 
guise, — and the teacher becomes ridiculous rather than 
great in their estimation, whenever he takes any such 
false position. 

Mr. Abbot, in his " Teacher," states a fact which 
well illustrates this point. " Many years ago," says 
he, " when I was a child, the teacher of the school 
where my early studies were performed, closed his 
connection with the establishment, and, after a short 
vacation, another was expected. On the appointed 
day the boys began to collect, some from curiosity, at 
an early hour, and many speculations were started as 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 151 



" Take off your hats."— Treatment of peculiar pupil«. ^ 

io the character of the new instructor. We were 
standing near a table with our hats on, — and our posi- 
tion, and the exact appearance of the group is indehbly 
fixed on my mennory, — when a small and youthful - 
looking man entered the room and walked up towardis 
us. Supposing him to be some stranger, or rather, not 
fliaking any supposition at all, we stood looking at him 
as he approached, and were thunder-struck at hearing 
him accost us with a stern voice, and sterner brow : — ' 
*■ Take off your hats ! Take off your hats, and go ^ 
your seats.' The conviction immediately rushed upon 
our mmds that this must be the new teacher. The 
first emotion was that of surprise, and the second was 
that of the ludicrous; though I believe we contrived 
to smother the laugh until we got out into the open 
air." 

Xhe true rule is to act the part which is agreeable t« 
nature The teacher having gained the self-coramaixl 
3ust insisted upon, and having in him the spirit of 
kindness and a desire to be useful, should assume 
nothing unnatural for effect. His manner should be 
truly dignified, but courteous. 

3. As to his treatment of those pupils that are marked 
by some peculiarity. There will usually be some pu- 
pils who are very backward, and perhaps very duil,- 
or who ma} have some physical defect, or some mental 
eccentricity. The teacher should be able to govern 
himself ill all his remarks concerning such pupils. He 
should avoid all allusion to such singularities before 
ih(t school ; and it is the height of injustice — I was 



i52 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 

Injustice.— Self-reliance,— not blind presumption. 

about to say, of malevolence — for him ever to use 
those low and degrading epithets so often found upon 
the teacher's tongue, — such as dunce, thickskull,- and 
the like. Is it not misfortune enough for a child to 
be backward or dull, without having the pain and 
mortification increased by the cruelty of an unftehng 
teacher ? The teacher should take a special interest 
in such children ; he should endeavor to entei into the 
feelings of their parents, and to treat them in such a 
waiy as to encourage rather than crush them. 

II. A CONFIDENCE IN HIS ABILITY TO GOVERN. We 

can generally do what we firmly believe we can do. 
At any rate, a man is more likely to succeed in any 
enterprise, when he has the feeling of self-reliance 
The teacher, by reflection upon the importance of good 
government to his success, and by a careful study of 
the means to be employed and the motives to be pre- 
sented, should be able to bring himself to the determi 
nation to have good order in his school, and so fully to 
believe he can have it, that his pupils shall detect no 
misgivings in him on this point. Whenever they dis- 
cover that he has. doubts of his success in governing, 
they will be far more ready to put his skill to the test. 
It would be better that a young teacher should declint 
to take a difficult school, rather than enter it without 
the full belief of his ability to succeed. I would not 
wish to be understood by these remarks to be enco ar- 
aging an unreasonable and blind presumption. A con- 
fidence in one's ability should be founded upon a 
reasonable estimate of his powers, compared with the 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 153 



View? of government. — Not tyranny.— Ihiifonm. 

Jifficulties to be overcome. What I recommend is 
that the teacher should carefully v^reigh the difficulties, 
and candidly judge of his ow^n resources, and then 
undertake nothing which he thinks is beyond his ability. 
If, after this, he believes he can succeed, other things 
being equal, success is almost certain. 

HI. Just views of Government. 1. It is not 
tyranny^ exercised to please the one who governs, or 
to promote his own convenience. The despot com- 
mands for the sake of being obeyed. But government 
in its proper sense, is an arrangement for the general 
good, — for the benefit of the governed as well as of 
the ruler. That is not good government which seeks 
any other object. The teacher should so view the 
matter ; and in establishing any regulations in school, 
he should always inquire whether they are suggested 
by a selfish regard to his own ease, or whether they 
spring from a sincere and disinterested wish to promote 
the improvement of the school. 

2. He should see the necessity of making the 
government uniform ; that is, the same from day to 
day. If he punishes to-day what he tolerates to- 
norrow, he cannot expect the cordial respect of his 
pupils. Some teachers, not having learned the art 
of self-government, take counsel too much of their 
own feelings. To-day they are in good health and 
spirits, and their faces are clothed in sunshine ; they 
can smile at any thing. To-morrow, suffering under 
bad digestion, or the want of exercise, or the wanl 
of sleep, tlie thunder-storm hovers about their brow. 



! 54 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 



Equality.— No aristocracy in school.— No partiality. 

ready to burst upon the first offender. Wo to the 
luckless wight who does not seasonably discover this 
change in the condition of the weather. A teacher 
cannot long respect himself who is thus capricious ; 
he may be sure his school will not long resjeci 
him. 

3. He should so view government as to make it 
equal ; that is, equal in its application to the whole 
school, — the large as well as small scholars, the 
males as well as females. This is often a great 
fault with teachers. They raise up a sort of aristo- 
cracy in their schools, a privileged class, a miniature 
nobility. They will insist that the little boys and girls 
shall abstain from certain practices, — whispering, for 
instance, — and most promptly punish the offenders, 
while they tolerate the same thing among the larger 
pupils. This is cowardly in itself, and as impolitic 
as it is cowardly. The teacher makes a great mistake 
who begins his government with the small children, 
in the hope of frightening the larger ones into obe 
dience. He should have the manliness and the justice 
to begin with the larger pupils ; the smaller ones never 
resist, when authority is established with those above 
them. Besides this, the very class who are thus 
indulged, are the very ones who soonest despise, and 
justly too, the authority of the teacher. 

He should make his government impartial in every 
respect. He should have no favorites — x\o preferences, 
based upon the outward circumstances of the child, hie 
family, or his personal attractions and the like The 



SCHOOL GOVERNMEXT. 155 



Vie\\'B of the governed.— Reasou.—AffectioM.— Conscience. 

rich and the poor should be alike to tlic teacher. He 
should remember that each child has a soul ; and it is 
with the soul, and not with the wealth of this world, 
that he has to do. He should remember that a gem, 
as bright as a sunbeam, is often concealed under a 
rough exterior. It should be his work, nay his delighi 
— to bring out this gem from its hiding-place, and 
apply to it the polish of a " workman that needeth not 
to be ashamed." 

IV. Just views of the Governed. Notwith- 
standing the imperfection of human nature, as dcvei 
oped in the young, they have some redeeming qualities 
Tliey are intelligent and reasonable beings. They 
have more or less love of approbation ; they have 
affection, and, above all, they have a moral sense. All 
these qualities are considerably developed before they 
enter the school. The teacher should remember this, 
and prepare himself to address, as far as may be, 
all these. Love of approbation, as we have before 
seen, is not an unworthy motive to be addressed, and 
it is well known that many children are very easily 
controlled by it. It is not the highest motive, to be 
sure, nor is it the lowest. The affection for a teacher, 
which many children will exercise, is one of the mosv 
poweiful instrumentalities in governing them with 
tjase. Tiie conscience, early trained, is all-powerful. 
I allude to these principles of action once more, in 
order to sav that the peculiar character of each should 
be well studied by the teacher. He should under- 
stand the human mind so well as to be able to find 



156 SCHOOL GOVERNME^ r. • 

Decision.— Firmness.— The unjust judse. 

ihe avenues to these belter parts of the child's nature 
remembering that whenever several ways are presented 
of doing the same thing, it is always wise to choose 
the best. 

V. Decision and Firmness. By decision, I meai) 
a readiness to determine and to act in any event just 
as duty seems to dictate ; a willingness to take the 
responsibihty just as soon as the way is plain. By 
firmness, is meant that fixedness of purpose which 
resolutely carries out a righteous decision. Both of 
these qualities are essential to good government in 
the teaciier. Much time is often lost by a teacher's 
vacillating when action is more important. Besides, 
if the pupils discover that the teacher hesitates, and 
dreads to take any responsibility, they very soon lose 
their respect for him. I w^ould not urge that a teacher 
should act hastily. He never should decide till he is 
confident he decides right ; any delay is better than 
hasty error. But his delay, in all matters of govern- 
ment, should have reference to a true knowledge of 
his duty ; when that is clearly known, he should b3 
decided. 

Many teachers suffer in their government, for want 
of firmness. They act upon the principle of personal 
convenience, as did the unjust judge mentioned in the 
parable. " And he would not for a while ; but after 
wards he said within himself. Though I fear not God 
nor regard man ; yet because this ividoio troubleth 
me, T will arise and avenge her, lest hy liei contiimnl 
coming she weary me " How often we hear somi^ 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 157 



A practical example.— PIiilosophizing.—Conchisi( n. 

thing like this in the schoolroom. " May I go and 
drink ?" — says James, in a peculiarly imploring tone. 
** No," says the teacher, promptly, and evidently with- 
out any reflection as to the decision he has made. 
James very composedly sits down, eyeing the counte- 
nance of the teacher expressively, as much as to say, 
" I'll try you agam soon." Before long he observes 
the teacher quite busy with a class, and he agam pops 
the question : " May I go and diink ?" Stung at the 
moment with impatience at the interruption, the teacher 
answers instantly and emphatically, " No, no, James, 
sit down." James still watches his teacher's expres- 
sion, and cannot discover there any signs of a mind 
seeking the path of duty, and he silently thinks to 
himself, " the thira time never fails." So, after a 
minute or two, when the teacher is somewhat puzzled 
with a knotty question, and is on the 'point of nibbing 
a pen besides, — " May I go and drink, sir V agam 
rings upon the teacher's ear. " Yes, yes, yes ! do 
go along ; / suppose you'll keep asking till you 
get it." 

Now James goes to drink, and then returns to 
philosophize upon this matter, perhaps as follows : 
— " I don't beheve he stopped to think whether I 
needed drink or not ; therefore hereafter I shall never 
believe he really means nc^ when he says it. He 
acts without thought. I have also found tl:at if 1 
v\ ill but ask several times, I shall get it. So I shall 
know how to proceed next time." — I do not know 
that any child would express this thought in so nr-any 



158 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 

A better way.— Moral and religious principle. 

words ; but the impression upon his mind is none the 
less distinct. 

Now the teaclier should carefully consider llie ques- 
tion addressed to him. How long since this child had 
water ? Can it be necessary for him to drink so often ? 
Then lei tlie answer be given mildly, but decidedly-- 
*' No, James." The very manner, quite likely, will 
settle the question, so that James will not ask agani 
The answer once given should be firmly adhered to. 
It would even be better that James should suffer foi 
the want of water than for the want of confidence in 
his teacher's firmness. In this way the teacher would 
establish his word with the school in a very few days , 
and his pupils would soon learn that with him " no 
means no," and " yes means yes" — a matter of no small 
importance to the teacher of a school. 

VI. Defp Moral Principle. The teacher should 
ever be a conscientious man ; and in nothing is this 
more necessary than in the exercise of good government 
In this matter the teacher can never respect himself 
when he acts from caprice or selfishness. His inquir}/ 
should be, Wliat is right ? What is justice — justice 
to my pupils — to myself? And if he could add to moral 
obligation the high sanctions of religious principle, and 
could liabitually and sincerely turn his thoughts to his 
Maker, with the heartfelt inquiry — What wilt thou 
liave me to do ? — then he would seldom err in the dis- 
charge of this trust. His pupils, seeing that he acted 
from fixed and deep principle, would respect his hon- 
esty, even if he should cross their desires. 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 159 



Firet impressions.— Respect precedes attachment. 

Having now dwelt at some length upon the requisites 
in the teacher for good government^ 1 shall next pro- 
ceed to present some of the 

SECTIOW II.-MEANS OF SECURING GOOD ORDEk. 

1. Be careful as to the first impression vor 
MAKE. It is an old proverb, that " what is well be- 
gun is half done." This holds true in school-keeping, 
and particularly in school-government. The young 
study character very speedily and very accurately. Per- 
haps no one pupil could express in words an exact 
estimate of a teacher's character after a week's ac 
quaintance ; but yet the whole school has received 
an impression which is not far from the truth. A 
teacher, then, is very unwise who attempts to assume 
to be any thing which he is not. He should ever be 
frank ; and in commencing a school he should begin as 
he can hold out. Any assumption of an authoritative 
tone is especially ill-judged. The pupils at once put 
themselves in an attitude of resistance, when this is 
perceived by them. 

A teacher should ever remember that amonff children 

o 

— however it may be among adults — respect always 
precedes attachment. ■ If he would gain the love of the 
children, he must first be worthy of their respect. He 
KUould therefore act deliberately, and always conscien- 
tiously He should be firm but never petulant. It is 
rery important at the outset that he should be truly cour- 
teous and affable. It is much wiser to request than to 
c%)mniand, at least until the request has been disregarded. 



160 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 



The rough and the gentle way.— Avoid the suspicious spirit. 

There are usually two ways of doing a thing, — a gentle 
and a rough way. "John, go and shut that door," in 
a gruff tone, is one way to have a door closed. John 
will undoubtedly go and shut the door — perhaps with 
a slam^ — but he will not thank the teacher for the rougli 
tones used in commanding it. Now it costs no more 
time or breath to say, " John, I'll thank you if you will 
shut that door." Most cheerfully will John comply 
with the request, and he is grateful that he has heard 
these tones of kindness. If he could but know the 
teacher's wishes afterward, he would gladly perform 
them unasked. I would by no means recommend the 
adoption of the fawning tone of the sycophant, by the 
teacher. He should be manly and dignified ; but the 
language of that courtesy which springs from real kind 
ness, and which ever becomes the gentleman, is always 
the most suitable as well as most expedient for him. 

II. Avoid exhibiting or entertaining a suspi 
cious spirit. It is a maxim of law, that one charged 
v^'ith crime is always to be presumed innocent until 
proved guilty. This should be a maxim with the teachei 
who would govern well. There is no more direct wa} 
of making a school vicious, than by showing them that 
you suspect they are so. A good reputation is dear to 
all • and even a bad boy will be restrained from wicked 
acts as long as he thinks you give him credit for good 
intentions. But if he finds that he has lost your good 
opinion, he feels that he has nothing further to lose by 
being as bad as you suspect him to be. A teacher is 
wise, therefore, if he tries to see something good .even in 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 161 



A bad boy saved. — Token of confidence.— Employment. 

a vicious pupil. It may be, as it often has been, the 
means of saving such a pupil. I have know^n a very 
depraved boy entirely reformed In school, by his teach 
er's letting him knov^r that he had noticed some good 
traits in his character. He afterwards told his teacher 
ihat ** he had been so often suspected to be a villain, 
that he had almost come to the conclusion that he would 
be one ; but that, when he found one man who could 
do him the justice to give him credit for a few good 
feelings — (for he knew he had them) — he at once de- 
termined to show that man that his confidence had not 
been misplaced ; and that he would sooner .die than 
knowingly offend the only person who ever had under • 
stood him." 

It is wise sometimes, not only to withhold the ex- 
pression of suspicion, but to give some token of your 
confidence to the pupil who is troublesome. Intrust 
him with some errand involving reponsibility, or assign 
to him some duty by way of assistance to yourself, and 
very likely you will gain his good-will ever after. This 
is founded upon the well-known principle in human 
nature acted upon by Dr. Franklin, who, when he would 
gain his enemy, asked him to do him a favor. 

III. As SOON AS POSSIBLE GIVE REGULAR AND FULL 

EMPLOYMENT. It is an old proverb that " idleness is 
the mother of mischief " The nursery hymn also con- 
tains a living truth — 

" And Satan finds some mischief still 
For idle hands to do." 

It is the law of a child's nature to be active and as 
11 



i62 SCHOOL GOVERNMEISJT 



The teacher may enforce eranloyraent.— Few rules, 

the teacher is placed ii the school to give direction to 
such minds, he can hardly complain of their going 
upon forbidden objects unless he seasonably provides 
something better for them to do. 

Very early, then, the teacher should endeavor to 
classify his school and furnish constant and full em- 
ployment — either of study, recitation, or relaxation — 
for every hour in the day. The teacher should have a 
plan when he opens the school, and the sooner it is 
carried into full operation the better.* Besides, when 
a teacher has given employment, he has a right to insist 
upon the pupil's benig engaged in study. Nobody will 
question this right; and it is far more profitable to 
require a positive duty than to enjoin a negative, — 
such as abstinence from whispering or from mischief 
in general. 

[V. Make but few rules. It is a very common 
thing for teachers to embarrass themselves by a long 
code of requirements and prohibitions. Some go so 
far as to write out a system of laws, and, annexing to 
each the penalty for its infringement, post them up in a 
conspicuous place in the schoolroom. Others content 
themselves with a verbal announcement of them, and 
rely upon the memories of the pupils to retain the de- 
tails of them and to govern themselves accordingly. 
This, it seems to me, is a great mistake. ^The muiti 
plicity of specific rules for the governrrent of a school, 
will naturally lead to a multiplicity of otfenses Chil- 



* See Chap, x of this wcrk. 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 161^ 



The world h£ks been governed too mucli. — Do right. 

dren will be confused by the varying and sometimes 
conflicting denrands of a formidable code of regulations, 
and in cndeavaring to avoid Scylla will be likely to fall 
into CharyWis. It is believed by some honest states- 
men that " fhe world has been governed too much ;" 
and It is often alleged in support of this behef that 
successfM^ compliance with the laws requires far more 
wisdom than was displayed in making them ; that is, 
the science of obedience is far more abstruse than the 
science of legislation ! Whether this be true in the 
civil world or not, I shall not attempt to decide ; I will 
only say that such has too often been the fact in the 
schoolroom. 

It is in my opinion the part of wisdom, and I think 
also the teaching of experience, that it is best to make 
but few rules. The great rule of duty, quoted once 
before, " Do unto others as you would that they should 
do to you," comprises quite enough to begin with. 
The direction — Do right, is a very comprehensive one. 
There is in children an ability to distinguish between 
right and wrong, upon which the teacher may ever 
rely ; and by insisting upon this as the standard, he 
daily brings into exercise the conscience of the child, 
who is called upon to decide, is this right ? Besides, 
if a school is to be governed by a code of laws, the 
pupils will act upon the principle that whatever is not 
'proscribed is admissible. Consequently without in- 
quiring whether an act is right, their only inquiry will 
be, is it forbidden ? Now no teacher was ever yet fc 
wise as to make laws iyx every case ; the consequence 



H)4 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 

Embarrassment in executing Jaws. —No discretion. 



is, he is daily perplexed with unforeseen troubles, oi 
with some ingenious evasions of his inflexible code- 
In all this matter the worst feature is the fact, that the 
child judges of his acts by the law of the teacher rather 
than by the law of his conscience^ and is thus in danger 
of perverting and blunting the moral sense. 

To this it may be added that the teacher will oftCR 
find himself very much perplexed in attempting to 
judge the acts of his pupils by fixed laws, and in 
awarding to all violations of them a prescribed penalty. 
Cases will frequently occur in which two scholars will 
offend against a given prohibition, with altogether dif- 
ferent intentions, — the one having a good motive and 
forgetting the law ; the other with the law in his mind 
and having a wicked design to violate it. Now the 
written code with its prescribed penalty allows the 
ceacher no discrecion. He must maintain his law and 
punish both offenders, and thus violate his own sense 
of justice ; or he must pass both by, and thus violate 
his word. He cannot excuse the one and punish the 
other, as justice would evidently demand, without set 
ting at naught his own laws. 

An example will illustrate this point. A teacher has 
made a rule that " any child who whispers without 
leave shall be feruled.^'' Now two little boys sit side 
by side. William is an amiable, obedient, and diligent 
little boy, who has never violated intentionally any wish 
of his teacher ; while Charles is a sour-tempered, 
vicious, unprincipled fellow, who a dozen times within 
a week has sought to make his teacher trouble. Little 



SCHOOL GOVTERNMENr. 165 



Illustration. — A dilemma. 



John, who sits near to William, drops his pencil, and it 
falls under William's desk. John looks for his pencil 
on the right and left of his seat, grows anxious and 
perplexed. William has noticed him, and he carefully 
picks up the pencil, while he perhaps is looking for 
it in another direction, — and with the kind intention 
of relieving his neighbor's anxiety and restormg his 
property, he touches his elbow, and softly whispers, 
" Here is your pencil, John," — then immediately re- 
sumes his own studies, and is probably entirely uncon- 
scious that he has violated any law. At the same 
instant the artful Charles, half concealing his face with 
his hand, with his wary eye turned to the teacher, wil- 
fully addresses another pupil on some point in no way 
connected with study or duty. The teacher sees both 
these cases, and calls the offenders to his desk. The 
one trembles, and wonders what he has done amiss, 
while the other perhaps prepares himself to deny his 
offense, and thus to add falsehood to his other sins. 
The rule awards to both the ferule. It is applied to 
Charles with energy, and with the conviction that he 
deserves it ; but I ask, can a man with any sense of 
justice raise his hand to punish William ? If so, I see 
not how he can ever again hold converse with his owr. 
conscience. Yet the rule allows him no discretion. He 
must violate either the rule or his conscience ; and too 
often in such cases he chooses the latter alternative. 

Now my advice is, make hut few rules, and never 
multiply them till circumstances demand it. The rule 
of right will usually be sufficient without any special 



16G SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 



Hiiit for young teachers.— Threatening.— Wake up mind. 

legislation ; and it has this advantage, that it leaves the 
teacher the largest discretion. 

I have been thus full on this point, because so many 
fail here, and especially young teachers. It has cost 
many a young teacher much bitter experience to ntiake 
this discovery for himself, and I have desired to save 
others w^ho may hereafter engage in teaching, the pain 
and perplexity w^hich they may so easily and so safely 
avoid. 

For similar reasons, I should also urge that the 
teacher should avoid the too common practice of threat- 
ening in his school. Threatening is usually resorted 
to as a means of frightening children into their duty, — 
and, too often, threats are made without any expectation 
of a speedy necessity either to execute or disregard 
them. The consequence is, they are usually more ex 
travagant than the reality, and the teacher's word soon 
passes at a discount ; his threats are viewed as very 
much like the barking of a dog who has no intention to 
bite. As threatening is moreover the language of im 
patience, it almost always leads to a loss of respect. 

V. Wake up mind in the school, and in the dis 
TRicT. There is usually but very little trouble in 
government where the scholars are deeply engaged in 
their studies or school exercises, and especially if at 
the same time the feelings of the parents are enlisted. 
To this end I would recommend that early attention 
should be given to some efforts to wahe up mind such 
as have been described in a former section of this wo^k. 
It will be found, when skilfully conducted, one of the 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 167 



Varieties in school. — Vocal music. — German proverb. 

most successful instrumentalities in aid of good O'lier 

and good feeling in the school. 

An ingenious teacher, too, may introduce other varie- 
ties into the school exercises, and thus sometimes turn 
the attention of discontented pupils from some evil 
design to give him trouble. So long as the teacher 
keeps steadily the main object of his school in view, 
namely, progress in the studies, he is excusable if occa- 
sionally, to break up monotony and excite a deeper 
interest, he introduces a well-considered new plan of 
study or of recitation. Indeed, much of his success 
will depend upon his power to do this, and in nothing 
will its advantages appear more obviously than in the 
government of the school. A great portion of the dis- 
order and insubordination in our schools, has its origin 
in a want of interest in the school exercises. He is 
the successful teacher, and the successful disciplina^ 
rian who can excite and maintain the necessary interest. 

As one of these varieties, I may mention the exercise 
oi vocal music in school. I have already alluded to it . 
As a means of keeping alive the interest in a school, it 
iS very important. Music is the language of the heart, 
and though capable of being grossly perverted, (and 
what gift of God is not ?) — its natural tendency is to 
elevate the affections, to sooth tne passions, and tc 
refine the taste. 

" The Germans have a proverb," says Bishop Potter, 
' which has come down from the days of Luther, thai 
where music is not, the devil enters. As David took 
his harp, when he WQuld cause he evi spirit to depart 



I6b SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 

Music in heaven.— EasUy introduced in schools.— Visit parents. 

from Saul, so the Germans employ it to expel the 
obduracy from the hearts of the depraved. In their 
schools for the reformation of juvenile offenders, (and 
the same remark might be applied to those of our ov^rn 
country,) music has been found one of the most effect- 
ual means of inducing docility among the stubborn and 
vicious. It would seem that so long as any remains of 
humanity linger in the heart, it retains its susceptibility 
to music. And as proof that music is more pow^erful 
for good than for evil, is it not vsrorthy of profound con- 
sideration that, in all the intimations which the Bible 
gives us of a future world, music is associated only 
with the employments and happiness of Heaven ?" 

Almost any teacher can introduce music into his 
school ; because if he cannot sing, he will always find 
that it will only require a little encouragement to induce 
the scholars to undertake to conduct it themselves. It 
will consume bu>t very little time, and it is always that 
time which, if not employed in singing, would otherwise 
be unemployed or misemployed. It is the united testi- 
mony of all who have judiciously introduced singing 
into their schools, that it is among the best instrumen- 
talities for the promotion of good feeling and good order. 

VI. Visit the parents of your scholars. I shall 
more particularly enjoin this, when I speak of the 
teacher's relation to his patrons, [chap. xi. :] but 1 
cannot forbear in this place to urg-e it upon the teachei 
as one of the means of securing ^ ood order in school. 
A great deal of the insubordination in our schools, 
arises from some misunderstanding, or some dislike 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. I61i 



Reasons why. — Registers of credits. — Wliy credits. 



entertained by the parent towards the teacher, and 
spoken of in presence of the children. Whatever the 
pupils hear at home, they w\\\ be hkely to exemphfy 
in school. It should be the teacher's first object to 
become acquainted with the parent, and to Jet him un- 
derstand, by a personal interview, all his plans and 
aims for the improvement of the school. This can be 
done best at the parent's own fireside. It has often 
happened, that by a friendly visit of an hour by the 
teacher, the parent's heart has been softened, his 
prejudices removed, his co-operation gained, and the 
cheerful and cordial obedience of his children in school 
secured. 

These visits should of course be made in the true 
spirit of the teacher. They should be made in the 
honest desire of his heart to render his labors more 
successful. A visit made in such a spirit seldom fails 
to make the parents personal friends ever after ; and 
of course, in case of a colhsion afterwards between hmn 
and their children, this is a very important point. 

VII. Registers of Credits. Registers of the 
standing of pupils in their schools and their classes, are 
very highly recommended by some, whose experience 
IS entitled to confidence. I am inclined to place this 
among the means of securing good order. I would 
recommend, however, that they should be registers of 
credits only. Some recommend the use of " black 
marks,''^ that is, the record of prominent faults and per- 
haps of punjchmentb My own experience teaches me 
that this is unwise. The teacher should not show a 



170 SCHOOL GOVERNMEIST. 



Government not tlie business of the teacher. -^Mr. Howard's remark. 



willingness to record and publish the faults of a piipii 
He shoiild, on the contrary, show a tender regard foi 
his reputation. Besides, the child is less likely to be 
mindful of his duty, when his reputation is already 
blackened by his teacher. If Registers are to be kept 
at all, they should record the successes and virtues of 
the child rather than his failures and faults. And if, at 
the end of a week or a naonth, he is furnished with an 
abstract for the inspection of his parents, let it be so 
much of good character as he has earned for himself 
during the specified time. 

I confess I am less sanguine than many others as to 
the utility of the register, either as an incentive to obe- 
dience or diligence ; but if used at ail, I think the abo^c 
restriction is highly important. 

YIII. Avoid governing too much. By this I would 
be understood to urge upon the teacher the fact that 
his main business in school is i?ist7'Uciion and not gov- 
ernment. Government is a means and not the end of 
school-keeping. A very judicious and practical teacher 
— Mr. R. S. Howard — has well remarked : " The real 
object to be accomplished, the real end to be obtained 
in school, is to assist the pupil in acquiring knowledge, 
— to educate the mind and heart. To effect this, good 
order is very necessary. But when order is made to 
take the place of industry, and discipline the place of 
instruction, where the time of both teacher and pupils is 
nio.stly spent in watching each other, very little good 
will be accomplished." 

It is a mistake that many teachers fall into, that they 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 171 



All official visit.—" Order, there!"— A scene 



seem to "egard government as their chief occupation , 
and, as we should naturally expect in such cases, it is 
often very poorly exercised. That is not the best gov- 
ernment which is mamtained as a matter of formal 
business. The noiseless under-current is far more 
efficient. I have always noticed that men govern best 
when they do not seem to govern ; and those who 
make most effort and bustle about it themselves, are 
pretty sure to have the most boisterous schools. 

I once in company with a friend officially visited a 
school where the teacher, a man of strong frame — six 
feet high, and with lungs in proportion^ wa^s laboring 
to keep order. Every word he uttered was in a stento- 
rian voice which would have been painful to the pupils 
in a quiet room ; hence, they took care to keep up a 
constant clattering of books, slates, and rulers, mingled 
with the constant hum of their own voices, as if for 
self-defense. It seemed to be a mighty effort of each 
party to rise if possible above the noise of the other. 
*' Silence ! Order ! I say," was constantly ejaculated 
m a voice that was almost sufficient, as Shakspeare's 
Hamlet would say, to " split the ears of the ground 
lings." . 

One of the most ludicrous scenes 1 ever witnessed, 
occurred in this school during an exercise in English 
grammar. The class occupied the back seats, while 
the teacher stood by the desk in front of the school. 
The children between the teacher and his class were 
variously employed, — some manufactur'ng paper fly 
boxes, some wJiittling the benches — ''it was in New 



172 SJHOOL GOVERNMENT 

Parsing ! — A dialogue. — " The Rule, sir." 

England) ; some were trying their skill at a spit-ball 
warfare ; others were making voyages of exploration 
beneath the seats. The school, consisting of some 
seventy pupils, were as busy as the occupants of an 
ant-hill. The sentence to be parsed was, " A good boy 
loves study." No wrritten description can present the 
scene as it was acted in real life. 

It should be borne in mind that every word spoken 
by the teacher, whether to the class or to the school, 
was in a tone of voice which might have been heard at 
least an eighth of a mile, and that every exclamation 
was accompanied by several energetic thumps of a 
large oaken ' ruW upon the lid of his desk. The lan- 
guage of the teacher is in italics. " Mary, parse A." 
" A is an indefinite"—" Silence ! Order there /" — " ar- 
ticle, and is prefixed to" — " John /" — " No sir, it is 
prefixed to" — ^'Martha, Martha! sit up'''' — "it is pre 
fixed Xo~hoyr— "Right r—'' Good, ne^^."— " Good. 
is an adjective," — " Order, Order, Order T — thump, 
hump, thump ! — " Go on, go on, I hear you /" — 
hump, thump ! — " and belongs to" — " Speak louder ! 
Sit up there ! What are you doing ? And belongs 
/o/"— "boy."— " The Rule. The Rule ! / 5«y "-- 
Here several children looked earnestly at the pieco 
of timber he held in his hand. — " The Rule, sir, the 
Rule " — thump, thump ! — " You've got it in your 
hand," vociferated a little harmless-looking fellow or. 
the front seat, while the scholar proceeded to recite the 
rule. — " Adjectives belong to" — " Lazy, lazy fellow ! 
sit up there.^^ — Here the class smiled, and the sciiolai 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 173 



A Babel.— Who made it?— Another visit. 



completed his rule, asserting however that ''adjectives 
belong to nouns," and not to " lazy fellow s,^^ as the class 
seemed to understand the master to teach. Word after 
word was parsed in this way, (a way of teaching om 
language, which, if we could know it had been prac- 
tised at the erection of Babel, would sufficiently account 
for that memorable confusion of tongues without the 
intervention of a miracle,) till the teacher, nearly ex 
hausted by this strange combination of mental, oral, 
and manual labor, very much to the relief of all, vocif 
erated " Thafll do r and the scene was changed. 

At the close of the afternoon, we were told that " it 
was a very hard school, that it was almost impossible 
to keep order, and that he should be discouraged were 
it not that he saw a manifest improvement within a few 
days past !" 

Now this teacher made the school what it was, by 
Ins own manner. He would have done the same in 
any school. He taught in the most effectual way the 
science and art of confusion ; and notwithstanding the 
hard name he gave his school, he was emphatically the 
most disorderly and noisy member of it. 

There was a change. On another day, accompanied 
by the same friend, we presented ourselves at the door 
of this same room for admittance. We heard no sound 
as we approached the entrance, and almost began to 
suspect we should find there was no school within. 
We knocked ; and presently without our hearing the 
footstep of the person who approached, the door opened, 
and we passed in. The children looked up a moment 



174 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 



A new teacher.— Good order.— The secret. 



as we entered, and then bent their eyes upon tl.eii 
lessons. The teacher softly handed us seats, and then 
proceeded with the recitation. His manner was quiet 
and deliberatOj and the school was orderly and busy 
He had no rule in his hand, no heavy boots on his feel, 
(he had exchanged them for slippers on entermg the 
school,) ind no other means of giving emphasis to his 
words. He kindly requested, — never commanded, — 
and every thing seemed to present the strongest con 
trast with the former scene. The hour of dismission 
arrived, and the scholars quietly laid by their books, 
and as quietly walked out of the house, and all was 
still. 

*' How have you secured this good order ?" said we 
to the teacher. " I really do not know," said he with 
a smile, *' I have said nothing about order." "But 
have you had no difficulty from noisy scholars ?" " A 
little at first ; but in a day or two they seemed to be 
come quiet, and we have not been troubled since." 

Now the secret was, that this latter teacher had 
learned to govern himself. His own manner gave 
character to the school. So it will ever be. A man 
will govern more by his manner than in any other 
way. 

There is, too, such a thing as keeping a school too 
still by over-government. A man of firm nerve can, 
by keeping up a constant constraint both in himself and 
pupils, force a decithlike silence upon his school. You 
may hoar a pin drop at any time, and the figure of 
every child is as if moulded in cast iron. But, be it 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 175 

Excessive siieiice.— Recapitulation.— Force sometimes needful. 

remembered, this is the stillness of constraint, not the 
stillness of activity. It is an unhealthy state both of 
body and mind, and when attained by the most vigilant 
care of the teacher, is a condition scarcely to be desired. 
There should be silence in school, a serene and sooth- 
ing quiet ; but it should if possible be the quiet of 
cheerfulness and agreeable devotion to study, rather 
than the " palsy of fear." 



Thus far I have confined myself to those qualifica 
tions in the teacher, and to those means w^hich, under 
ordinary circumstances and in most districts, w^ould in 
my opinion secure good order in our schools. With 
the qualifications I have described in the mental and 
moral condition of the teacher, and the means and sug- 
gestions above detailed — combined, I believe a very 
large majority of our schools could be most success 
fully governed v^rithout any appeal to fear or force. 

But as some schools are yet in a very bad state 
tequiring more than ordinary talents and skill to control 
ihem ; and as very many of those who must teach for a 
long time to come have not, and cannot be expected to 
have all the qualifications described, and much less the 
moral po\^er insisted on, it is unreasonable to expect, 
taking human nature as it is, and our teachers as they 
are, that all can govern their schools without some 
a{)peals to the lower motives of children, and some 
resort to coercion as an instrumentality. I should 



176 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 



Punishment defined. — Comments on definition. 



leave tliis discussion very :ncomplete, ibcrefore, were 
I not to present my views upon the subject of 



SECTION III. - PUNISHMENTS 

As a great deal has beeij written and spoken upon 
the subject of school punishments, I deem it imoortanJ 
that the term, as I intend to use it, should be defined at 
the outset. I submit the following definition : 

Punishment is pain inflicted upon the mind or 
body of an individual by the authority to which 
he is subject ; with a view either to reform him, 
or to deter others from the commission of of- 
fenses, or both, 

It is deemed essential to the idea of punishment thai 
the inflictor have legitimate authority over the subject 
of it, — otherwise the act is an act of usurpation. It is 
also essential that the mfiictor should have a legitimate 
object in viev/, such as the reformation of the individ- 
ual or of the community in which his example has 
exerted an influence, — otlierwise the act becomes an 
abuse of power. Infliction for the purpose of retalia- 
tion for an insult or injury, is not punishment ; it is 
revenge. Whenever, therefore, a teacher resorts to such 
infliction to gratify his temper, or to pay off^ as it is 
expressed in common language, the bad conduct of a 
pupil, without any regard to his reformation or the pre- 
vention of similar offenses in the school, the pain lie 
inflicts is not punishment ; it is cruelty. Very great 
importance is to be attache fi to the motive m this mat- 



SCHOOL GOVEHNMENT. 177 



Whence authority is derived.— Dr. Webster.— A common error. 



ter ; because the same infliction upon the same indi- 
vidual and for the same offense, may either be just and 
proper punishment, or it may be che most unjustifiable 
and revengeful abuse, according to the motive of the 
inflictor. 

The authority to inflict punishment in general, is 
either by the constitution of God or of civil society. 
" The punishment of the faults and offenses of children 
by the parent," says Dr. Webster, " is by virtue of the 
right of government with which the parent is invested 
by God himself." The right to punish the offenses of 
children while at school, is by the common 'aw vested 
in the teacher, as the representative of the parent for 
the time being. It is the declaration of this law as in 
terpreted from time immemorial, that the teacher is in 
loco 'parentis — in place of the parent. 

Some have alleged that fear and shame, the two 
principles addressed by punishment, are among the 
lowest in our nature ; and have hence endeavored to 
sliow that punishment is always inexpedient, if not in 
deed always wrong. To this 1 answer, that both feai 
and shame are incorporated in our nature by God him 
self; and hence I infei they are there for a wise pur 
pose. I find, moreover, that God himself, in his word 
and in his providence, does appeal to both of these 
|rinciples ; and hence I infer that punishment in the 
ajstract is not wrong, and after the higher motives 
have been addressed, not altogether inexpedient. 

Living in a community as we do, where the right of 

punishment in general, is assumed by our government, 
\'Z 



178 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 

The right assumed. — Plan of discussion. — Two clewses. 

and the right of teachers to punish is conceded by oui 
laws, I do not feel called upon to establish the right by 
argument ; I shall assume that the teacher has the 
right to punish in the sense in which I have defined 
punishment, — and shall therefore proceed to consider 
the various kinds of punishments used in our schools, 
and to distinguish those which are justifiable from those 
which are not ; and also to consider some of the con 
ditions and hmitations of their use. 

In preparing the way to do this, I may remark thai 
punishments consist of two classes. 1, Those which 
address themselvies directly to the mind ; as privation 
from privileges, loss of liberty, degradation, some act 
of humiliation, reproof, and the like. 2. Those which 
address the mind through the body ; as the imposition 
of a ta«k — labor, for instance, — requiring the pupil to 
take some painful attitude, inflicting bodily chastise- 
ment, &c. 

I have mentioned these two classes for the purposi; 
of calling attention to the fact, that there are those who 
approve of the first class, and at the same time denounce 
the second, scouting the idea of reaching the mind 
through the senses of the body. This seems to me,» 
however, to indicate a want of attention to the laws of 
our being ; for in the economy of nature we are made 
at every point sensitive to pain as a means of guarding 
against injury. Why has the Creator studded the en- 
tire surface of our bodies with the extremities of nerves, 
whose function is to carry to the brain with lightning 
speed the intelligence of the approach of danger ? An I 



SCIIOOf GOVERNMENT. 179 



Min<l may be reachwl throusli the body.— Improper punishments. 

why should this inte.jigence be transmitted, if its object 
is not to influence tlie will, either to withdraw the suf- 
fering part from immediate danger, or to avoid those 
objects which cause the pain ? The mind, then, by the 
economy of nature, or rather by the arrangemenl of 
God, is capable of being influenced through the bodily 
sensations ; and those who deny this, either do not ob- 
serve attentively, or, observing, do not reason fairly as 
to the laws of our being. With these preliminary 
observations, I now proceed to consider, 

I. Improper Punishments Some punishments are 
always wrong, or at least always inexpedient. The 
-nfliction of them either implies a wrong feeling on the 
part of the teacher, or it promises no wholesome result 
on the part of the pupil. I shall mention in detail, 
1 . Those that from their nature excite the feeling in 
the pupil, that an indignity has been committed against 
his person. No man is ready to forgive anotlier for 
wringing his nose. There is almost a universal senti- 
ment that this organ is specially exempted! from such 
insult. Nearly the same feeling exists as to pinching 
or pulling the ear, or twisting the hair, or snapping 
the forehead. Each child feels that these parts of his 
person are not to be trifled with, and the feeling i& 
natural and proper. Now, though it is not common for 
teachers to wr.ng the noses of their pupils, it is very 
common for them to do each of the other things enu- 
merated. I have often seen such punishments, but 1 
think I never saw any good come of them. The pupil 
a^-ays looked as if the teacher had done despite toward 



180 SCHtOL GOVEENMENT. 



Head to be exempted from infliction. — Scolding. 

his person. Whenever I have seen the teacher twi&t 
the locks of a child's hair about his finger till the tears 
w^ould start in the eye, 1 have supposed the feelings 
called forth were any thing but desirable, — any thing 
but favorable to reformation. A pupil must love his 
teacher very strongly, to be able to keep his temper 
from rising under such circumstances ; and there is 
great doubt whether either of these punishments does 
any thing to secure cheerful obedience m the child one 
time in a hundred probably in ninety-nine cases in the 
hundred the evil passions are very much strengthened 
by them. Besides, these are undignified modes of 
punishment. They savor so much of a weak and 
childish impatience, that the* pupils find it hard to 
respect a man, much more to love him, who will stoop 
to so small a way of giving vent to his angry feelings 
Snapping the forehead is subject to strong physiological 
objections ; and, as a general rule, the head and its ap- 
purtenances should be exempted from penal violence. 

In this place I may very properly allude to anothei 
mode of assailing the ears of children, quite as undig 
nified in itself and quite as unprofitable in its resuUs as 
pulHng them, — and until they are hardened to it bv 
familiarity, probably more painful. 1 refer, 1 need not 
say, to scolding. This is a punishment altogethei 
too common. There is a physiological law. that the 
exercise of any organ will give it greater strength and 
generally greater celerity. From this fact, and the ad- 
ditional one, that the more a child is scolded the hardei 
his heart becomes, so that here, as in the Rule of Three. 



SCilOOL GOVERNMENT. 181 



'oor iuvestment. — Cockney blackguardism.— Kxamples 



* more rccuires more," —it follows that those who once 
begin to scold, are fortunate if they stop short of high 
attainments in the art. 

TJiere is no enterprise in which the investment yields 
jc small a profit as in the business of scolding. It is 
rea]]y pitiable to witn<iss the teacher given to tnis prac- 
tice, making himself and all around him unhappy, 
without the hope of alleviation. The command of the 
tongue is a great virtue m a teacher ; and it is to be 
feared that very many children still suffer in their mora^ 
feelings* as well as their ears, because so many teachers 
do not seasonably learn the right control of the " unruj\ 
member." 

While upon this subject, I may allude to anothei 
very objectionable mode of address practised by some 
teachers toward their schools. I refer to a mixture of 
scolding with a species of low wit or cockney black 
guardism, that should ever be banished from the school 
room. Such expressions as, " Sit down, John, or I'll 
bhiver your top -timbers,'^ — " Attend to your studies, oi 
some of you will be a head shorter,^'' — " Keep quiet, o\ 
you'll hear thunder," — and the like. To these I might 
add those empty and debasing threats w4iich are too 
often and too thoughtlessly uttered ; as, " I'll skin you 
ilive," or " I'll shake you to pieces," or " I'll use you 



* A. blacksmith, it is said, who had been accustomed to scold his family, 
Cj^uite too freely, was one day attempting to harden a piece of steel ; but 

'ailing after two or three attempts, his little son, wlio had been an observer 
of this as well as other operations of his fatlier, is said to have exclaimed, 

• Soold it, father, scold it if that wonH harden it, nothing else will ' 



I 82 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 



Beg pardon.— Mistake about it.— Goldsmith 

up " — with Others of the same character. I perhaps 
ought to beg pardon for placing these vulgarisms before 
the general reader ; but they are so frequently employed 
in our schools, in some of our schools of good repute 
too, that I thought it to be my duty to quote them, (for 
ihey are all literal quotations,) in order if possible to aid 
those who have fallen into such a low habit to see 
themselves as others see them. 

It is so very easy for a teacher to raise a laugh among 
his pupils, that he is in danger of being seduced into 
the use of coarse and quaint expressions by the suppo- 
sition that they are witty. But the mirth of schoolboys 
is not a more reliable criterion of wit in the modern 
teacher than it was in the case of the schoolmaster de- 
scribed by Goldsmith ; and possibly the exercise of a 
little discernment on his part would convince him that 
children sometimes laugh, as they did of old, because 
f hey think it prudent to do so. 

" A man severe he was and stern to view, 
I knew him well, and every truant knew ; 
Weil had the boding tremblers learned to trace 
The day's disasters in his morning face ; 
Full well they laughed, with counterfeited glee. 
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he !" 

It is unquestionably true that there are schools and 
many such, now of high standing, the language of whose 
teachers, could it be noted down and printed for the 
parents, would perfectly astonish them, and such is 
the force of habit, it would very likely astonish the 
teachers themselves. Let all who mean to respect 
themsdves, or who desire to be long respected by 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 18H 

Prolonged tortures.— The Bible at arm's length. 

Others, most carefully avoid the first approach to the 
use of such kind of language. Its influence in school 
is ' only evil, and that continually." 

2. Those punishments that from their nature imply 
171 thd inflictor a love of prolonged torture. These are 
quite numerous, and are resorted to often for the purpose 
of avoiding what is usually deemed severer punishment. 
Some of them also have very serious physiological ob- 
jections. As an instance, I may mention the holding of 
a weight at arm's length until the muscles of the arm 
become pamful from over-exertion and fatigue. Some- 
limes the Bible, being the largest book at hand, is 
chosen as the weight ; and thus that book, which should 
have no associations connected with it in the minds of 
the young but those of reverence and love, is made the 
instrument of torture — the minister of cruelty : 

Imagmc that you see — v^^hat I have seen — an offend 
mg boy called to the teacher's desk, and, after words 
of reproach, sentenced to hold the large Bible at arm's 
length for a specified time, or until the teacher is will- 
ing to release him. At first it is raised with a smile 
of triumph, almost a smile of contempt. Soon the 
muscles thus exerted at disadvantage begin to be weary 
and to relax " Hold it up !" exclaims the vigrilant 
teacher ; and it is again brought to its position. Sooner 
than before the muscles are fatigued, and they almost 
refuse to obey the mandate of the will, which itself is 
hdXi willing to rebel against authority so unreasonable. 
" Up with it !" — again brings it to its place, or perhaps 
a 3iroke oC the ratan repeats the command with more 



184 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 



Pliysioloj^ical effects.—Moial effects. — Hokl a nail ! 



urgency. At this moment every nerve sympathizes, 
and the muscles are urged on to their greatest effort. 
The limb is in agony, — and what agony can surpass 
that of an overstrained muscle ? — and the w4iole system 
reels and writhes with suffering. Now look into that 
child's face, and tell me, what is the moral efiect of 
this sort of punishment ? Unless he is one of the most 
amiable of the sons of Adam, he inwardly curses the 
cruelty that he thinks is delighted with pangs like these, 
protracted yet intolerable. He almost curses the blessed 
book which was given to warm his soul into life and 
immortality. He cries with pain, but not with penitence. 
He may submit, indeed, and he may abstain from sim- 
ilar offenses in time to come ; but it is the submission 
of self-preservation, and the abstinence of an eye-ser 
vant, — while the stain that has thus been inwrought in 
his moral sensibilities, may long remain unexpunged. 
Such a punishment I unhesitatingly pronounce to be 
improper^ whatever may be the circumstances. 

Akin lO this are those other contrivances to give 
prolonged pain, which in different parts of the country 
have taken a variety of forms, and as great a variety 
of names. One of these has been termed " holding 
a nail into the floor^ It consists in requiring the 
pupil to bend forward, — and, placing the end of a single 
finger upon the head of a nail, to remain in that posi 
lion till the whole system is agonized. Another has 
by some of its inflictors been termed " sitting on 
nothing." The pupil is required \o place his back 
against a w^all of the room, and his feet perhao? a foot 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 185 



Sitting on nothing. — On worse than nothing,— Ridicule. 

from lis base, and then to slide his body down till the 
knees are bent at right angles, and his person is in a 
sitting posture without a seat ! The muscles, acting 
over the knee at the greatest disadvantage, are now 
made to support the body in that position during the 
pleasure of the teacher. I have seen another mode of 
punishment practised, and as I have heard no name 
for it, I shall give it the cognomen of "sitting on worse 
than nothing." The boy in this case was required to 
sit upon the floor, and then, placing the feet upon a 
bench or chair, to support the body in an erect position 
by reversed action of the muscles ! 

But I gladly turn away from a description of the 
punishments I have witnessed in the common schools 
of New England within a quarter of a century, ex 
hibiting as they do so many characteristics of the 
dark ages. Some of these I have witnessed quite 
recently ; and to what extent any or all of them are 
now ill use, I am unable to say. I only desire 
to say, that they are all improper, — debasing to the 
morals of the pupils, and degrading to the profession 
of the teacher ; and the sooner such punishments are 
entirely banished from our school-rooms, the soonei 
will the profession of the teacher rise to its propei 
level. 

3. Ridicule This is a weapon that should not 
be wielded as a school-punishment. It often cuts 
deeper than he who uses it imagines ; and il usually 
gives most pain where it is least merited. Some 
physical defect, or some menial incapacity, or ecceiv 



i86 SCHOOL governmeni 



Whj objectionable. — Loss of love — of confidence 

tricity, is most frequently made the subject of it ; amJ 
yet nothing can be more unfeeling or more unjust than 
its use in such cases. If the designed failings of ^ the 
indolent, or the premeditated mischief of the vicious, 
could be subjected to its influence, its use would be 
more allowable, — but even then it would be question- 
able But the indolent and the vicious are usually 
unaffected by ridicule. They sin upon calculation, 
and not without counting the cost ; and they are 
therefore very willing to risk their re}. citation, where 
they have so little to lose. It is the modest, the 
conscientious, the well-meaning child, that is most 
affected by ridicule ; yet it is such a one that, for 
various reasons, is oftenest made the subject of it, 
though of all others, his feelings should be most 
tenderly spared. 

A strong objection to the use of ridicule, is the 
feeling which it induces between the teacher and 
pupil. The teacher, conscious that he has injured 
the feelings of the child, will find it hard to love 
him afterwards ; for we seldom love those whom we 
have injured. The child, on the other hand, loses 
confidence in his teacher; he feels chat his sensibilities 
have been outraged befoie his companions, and that 
the teacher, who should be his best friend in the 
school, has invited the heartless laugh of his fellow- 
pupils against him. With a want of love on the one 
hand, and of confidence on the other, what furthei 
usefulness can reasonably be expected ? 

But the strongest objection of all to the use of 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 18' 



School-mates injured. — Hiss.— Little Mary. — A scene. 



ridicule, is the fact that it calls forth the worst of 
feelings in the school. Those who participate in the 
laugh thus excited, are under the influence of no very 
amiable motives. And when this is carried so far as 
to invite, by direct words, some expression from the 
schoolmates, by pointing the finger of shame, and 
perhaps accompanying the act by a hiss of scorn, 
the most deplorable spirit of self- righteousness is 
cultivated. 

Little Mary one day was detected in a wrong 
act by her teacher. " Mary, come here," said the 
teacher, sternly. Little thinking she had been seen, 
Bhe obeyed promptly, and stood by the chair of her 
teacher, who, without giving Mary time to reflect, 
and thus allow the conscience opportunity to gain 
the mastery, immediately asked, " What naughty 
thing did I see you do just now?" "Nothing," 
said Mary, partly disposed to justify herself, and 
partly doubting whether indeed tl e teacher had seen 
her do any thing wrong. " Oh, Mary, Mary, who 
would think you would tell me a lie ! Did you 
ever hear of Ananias and Sapphira ?" Here a lecture 
followed on the sin and danger of lying, and particu- 
larly the danger of sudden death by the vengeance 
of God. Mary began to tremble, and then to weep, 
probably from terror. Now came the second part. 
" I should think you would be ashamed to be knowi: 
to lie. All the children now know that you have lied- 
I should think they would feel ashamed of such a 
naughty little girl in the school. I should not wonder," 



188 SCHOCL GOVERNMENT. 



Self-righteousness.— Defiance.— Freeiing the affections. 

she continued, '' if all the little girls and boys should 
point their fingers at you and hiss" In an instant 
all the children who were not too old to be disgusted 
with the management and tone of the teacher, pointed 
their fingers, and uttered a long succession of hisses, 
while their faces beamed with all the complacency 
of self-righteousness, triumphing over the fall of a 
companion, who perhaps was after all as good, and 
as truthful a child aS any of them. The poor child 
at first turned her back upon them ; but soon, feeling 
that her reputation was gone, she turned, as woman 
ever will when her self-respect is blighted, with a loo> 
of indifference, almost a look of defiance. Fear was 
first swallowed up in shame, and shame gave place 
to reckless audacity. The whole scene was rendered 
still more ruinous to the child, from the fact that it took 
place in the presence of visitors ! 

When will our teachers learn the human heart 
well enough to be able to distinguish between ^ work 
of devastation and of true culture ; between a process 
of blighting the sensibilities, searing the conscience, 
freezing up the fountttins of sympathy, and of mutual 
love and confidence, — and a course of training which 
warms the conscience into activity, inculcates the 
reverence and love of God, instead of a slavish fear 
of his power, and instils into the soul a desire to do 
right, rather than to do that which will avoid the 
reproach of ar unfeeling multitude, more wicked than 
those they censuve ? Goldsmith has snown that wo- 
man may " stoop to concjucr ;" but the above narrative 



SCHOOL GOYERNMEN . 189 

Let teacliers think. — Proper punishments. — Reproof in jrivato. 

snows how she may stoop, not to conquer, but to lay 
waste the youthful heart. 

These punishments, and such as these, which 1 
have classed under the list of impi oper punishments, 
should all be carefully considered by the teacher. 
They should be considered before he enters his school. 
it would be well always for him to determine before 
hand what punishments he will not use. It may save 
him many a serious mistake. I have written what 1 
have under this head, in order to put teachers upon 
thought ; believing that men seldom earnestly and 
honestly inqui?'e, without arriving at the truth in the 
end. 

II. Proper punishments. Every teacher's mind 
should, if possible, be settled, as to what punishments 
are proper, so that when they are inflicted, it can 
be done in good faith, and with an honest conviction 
of the performance of duty. Among the proper 
punishments, I may mention, 

1. Kind Reproof. This will probably be conceded 
by all. I say kind reproof, because no other reproof 
can be useful. I would distinguish it from rep7^oack. 
Reproof, judiciously administered, is one of the most 
effectual punishments that can be used. As a general 
rule, this is best administered privately. The child's 
spirit of obstinacy is very likely to exhibit itself in the 
presence of his fellows ; but in private, the conscience 
IS free to act, and the child very readily submits. It is 
always perfectly safe to reprove privately ; that is, not 
in the presence of tlic school. The ch:ld has no 



I'JO SCHOOL GOVERNMEJ^JT 

Loss of privileges, consequent upon abuse. — Confinement. 

motive to misrepresent the teacher ; and if the teacher 
so far spares the reputation of the pupil, as to take 
him by himself, this very circumstaixe will often give 
the teacher access to his better feelings. 

2. Loss of Privileges. By. abuse of privileges we 
forfeit them. This is a law of Providence. It is un- 
questionably proper that this should be a law of our 
schools. All those offenses, therefore, against propriety 
in the exercise of any privilege, may be attended with 
a temporary or permanent deprivation of such privilege. 
A. pupil who is boisterous at the recess, disturbing the 
quiet of the school or impeding the enjoyment of his 
playfellows, may be deprived of the recess. A child, 
who disfigures his seat with his knife, may- be deprived 
of his knife; and so for any other similar offense, 
Some consider it proper to extend this punishment to 
other classes of offenses, as, for example, whispering 
or idleness. While I would not deny the right or the 
propriety of doing so, I should think it more expedient 
not thus to extend it. It is well, as far as it can be 
done, so to punish the child, that he shall see that his 
conduct naturally leads to its punishment as a conse- 
quence. And it is moreover very probable that in most 
scliools there will be demand enough for this punish 
ment, in its natural apphcation, without extending it to 
other cases. 

3. Restraint^ or confinement. When liberty is 
abused, a scholar may be put under restraint. When 
duty is violated, and the rights of others are wantonly 
disregarded, confinement will afford time for reflecticn, 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 191 



Not in a dark room. — Why not 1 — Humiliation. — Seldom. 



and dt tlie same time relieve others from the annoyance 
and detriment of eiil example. Such restraint is often 
a wholesome disciphne; and confinement, if it be not too 
far protracted, is always safe. It should be remarked, 
however, that confinement in a dark apartment should 
never be resorted to by any teacher. There are insu- 
perable objections to it, growing out of the fears which 
many children early entertain of being alone in the dark, 
as also the fact that light as well as air is necessary to 
the vigorous action of the nervous system during the 
waking hours, especially in the daytime. It is well 
known that a child shut up in a dark room even in the 
warmth of summer, speedily undergoes a depression 
of temperature ; and if the confinement is unduly pro- 
tracted, cold chills come over the system. For these 
reasons, and others, if confinement is ever used as a 
punishment, it should be in a room properly lighted and 
heated. Our prisoners enjoy, as far as may be, both 
ol these favors. 

4. Humiliation. This should be resorted to with 
great caution. When a fault has been openly commit 
led, and attended with circumstances of peculiar obsti- 
nacy, it may sonietimes very properly be required of 
iiie offender that he should confess the fault in a man- 
Ler as public as its commission. This may be due to 
the school. Sometimes when an offensive act is very 
strongly marked, a confession and a request for the for 
giveness of the teacher or the individual injured may 
be made a condition of restoration to favor. This is 
usually considered a very proper punishment. I would 



[92 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 

A task.— Wlien and how. 

however suggest, that it be used with great care, and 
never unless the circumstances imperatively demand 
it. It may be the means of cultivating the grossest 
hypocrisy, or of mducing open rebelHon ; and it some- 
times gives the other pupils an advantage over the 
culprit, which_ may do him personally much harm 
The teacher should be convinced that this is the besf 
thing he can do, before he resorts to it. 

5. The imposition of a task. In every school there. 
IS more or less work to be done ; such as sweeping 
the floors, washing the benches, preparing the fuel, 
and making the fires. Unless objection should be made 
by parents, this is one of the most effectual punish 
ments, especially in cities and large villages, where 
work is a burden, and the attractions of play are most 
powerful. Some difficult schools have been governed 
for months with no other punishment than labor thus 
imposed. The plan is, that if two boys neglect their 
studies so as to attract the attention of the teacher, they 
shall be nominated as members of the committee on 
sweeping, — a duty to be performed after school hours 
If one or two more are decidedly disorderly, they shaU 
be required to make fires, bring up wood, or perhaps 
wash a certain portion of the room. This is always 
assigned pleasantly by the teacher, with the under 
standing, however, that any failure to do the allotted 
work thoroughly and faithfully, will be attended with a 
reappointment till the object is secured. 

If parents should object to this, it is not absolutely 
essential to the teacher's success ; but where no objec- 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 193 

An objection. — Answer. — Not Btrongly urged. — The rod. 

lion is made, if judiciously managed, it may do very 
much in many of our schools towards producing that 
quiet order, which otherwise it might require more 
cogent and less agreeable means to secure. 

It has sometimes been urged as an objection to this 
mode of punishment, that it would tend to attach the 
idea of disgrace to useful labor. It is conceived that 
this is by no means the necessary consequence. On the 
other hand, it would serve to teach the difference there 
always is between a duty imposed and one voluntarily 
undertaken. The same objection would apply to our 
piison discipline, where a man by a wilful disregard of 
law and the rights of others, very justly forfeits his ser- 
vices for a time to the state. 

I would not lay very much stress upon this mode of 
punishment, though I have known it resorted to under 
favorable circumstances with very good effect. It would 
of course be more effectual in a large town or city than 
in the country, where boys are in the habit of laboring 
at home, and would be quite as willing to labor after 
regular hours at school. 

6. Actual chastisement loith the rod of correction. 1 
have no hesitation (though others have) in placing this 
among the class Qi proper punishments. As this involves 
a great question on the subject of school government^ 
and one that is debated with great zeal and warmth in 
almost every educational meeting that is held, I shall 
feel justified in giving a little more spa:3e to the consid- 
eration of it. 

13 



194 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 



Corporal punishment —Views of others. — Nothing to conceal. 



SECTION IV —CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 

I am aware that when I enter this field I am tread- 
ing on ground every inch of which has been di&puted 
I come to the task of writing on tliis subject, however, 
1 think, without prejudice or asperity. Having noth- 
ing to conceal, I shall express my own views honestly 
and frankly, — views which I entertain aftei biligently 
seeking the truth for some twenty years, during which 
time I have listened to a great deal of discussion, and have 
read carefully and candidly whatever has been written 
by others. Nor do I expect to give universal satisfac 
tion. There are strongmen and I believe honest men, 
who run to the opposite extremes in their doctrine and 
practice, and who defend the one course or the other 
as if the existence of the world depended upon the 
issue. There are those, who not only claim the right 
to chastise, but who insist that whipping should be the 
first resort of the teacher in establishing his authority ; 
and to show that this is not a dormant article of their 
laith, they daily and almost hourly demonstrate their 
efficiency in the use of the rod, so that their pupils 
may be living witnesses that they act in accordance 
with their creed. Again, there are others who as ear 
nestly deny the right of the teacher to resort to the rod 
at all, and who urge with all tiieir power the efficacv 
of moral suasion to subdue and control the vicious and 
the stubborn in our schools ; and who are ready to 
atjsert unetiuivocallv that no man is fit to Hp employed 



SCHOOL GOVERNMEXT. 195 

Mmi see differently.— A privilege claimed.— Authority at any rate. 

to teach the young, who has not the abihty to govern 
all the various dispositions he may meet in any school^ 
without the use of corporal punishment. 

I have no disposition to question the sincerity and 
honesty of each of these classes, knowing as I do, that 
different men see with different eyes, even when the 
circumstances are the same ; much more when their 
circumstances are widely diverse. I have no bitterness 
of language to apply to those who go to the extreme of 
severity ; nor any sneer to bestow upon the name of 
" moral-suasionist." But while I accord to other men 
the right of expressing their own opinions, I claim the 
same privilege for myself, — yet without wishing to 
obtrude my opinions upon other men any further than 
they will bear the test of reason and experience. 

It is agreed on all hands that the teacher must estab 
lish authority in some way, before he can pursue sue 
cessfully the objects of his school. I have described 
the qualifications which the teacher should possess in 
order to govern well, and I have also given some of 
the means of securing good order without a resort to 
severity. Probably in a large majority of our schools, 
the teacher with these qualifications and the employ 
ment of these means, could succeed in establishing 
and maintaining good order without any such resort. 
This should in my opinion always be done, if possible, 
— and no one will rejoice more than myself to see the 
day, should that day ever come, when teachers shall 
be so much improved as to be able to do this univer* 
sally. But in writing on this subject, it is the dictate 



196 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 

We must take the worid as if is.— Mr. Mann quoted. 

of common sense to lake human nature as it :'s, and 
human teachers as they are, and as many of them must 
be, for some tinr.e to come, — and adapt our directions to 
ihe circumstances. Human nature, as it is exhibited 
in our children, is far from being perfect ; and I am 
sorry to say that the parents of our children often ex- 
hibit it in a still less flattering light. Perhaps no lan- 
guage of mine can so well represent the concurrence 
of circumstances making corporal punishment neces- 
sary in our schools as it has been done by the Hon. 
Horace Mann in his lecture on " School Punishments." 
" The first point," says he, " which I shall consider, is, 
whether corporal punishment is ever necessary in oui 
schools. As preliminary to a decision of this question, 
let us take a brief survey of facts. We have in this 
Commonwealth, [Massachusetts,] above one hundred 
and ninety-two thousand children between the ages of 
four and sixteen years. All these children are not only 
legally entitled to attend our public schools, but it in 
our great desire to increase that attendance, and he 
who increases it is regarded a reformer. All thai 
portion of these children who attend school, enter it 
from that vast variety of homes which exist in the state. 
From different households, where the widest diversity 
of parental and domestic influences prevails, the chil 
dren enter the schoolroom, where there must be com- 
parative uniformity. At home some of these children 
have been indulged in every wish, flattered and smiled 
upon for the energies cf their low propensities, and 
even their freaks and whims enarted into household 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 197 



Djfliculties to be met, — in children, — in parents. 



laws. Some have been so rigorously debarred from 
every innocent amusement and indulgence, that they 
have opened for themselves a way tc gratification, 
through artifice and treachery and falsehood. Others, 
irom vicious parental example, and the corrupting in- 
fluences of vile associates, have been trained to bad 
habits and contaminated with vicious principles, ever 
since they were born ; — some being taught that honor 
consists in whipping a boy larger than themselves ; 
others that the chief end of man is to own a box that 
cannot be opened, and to get money enough to fill it ; 
and others again have been taught, upon their father's 
knees, to shape their young lips to the utterance of 
oaths and blasphemy. INow all these dispositions, 
which do not conflict with right more than they do with 
each other, as soon as they cross the threshold of the 
schoolroom, from the difFeicnt worlds, as it were, of 
homes, must be made to obey the same general regula 
tions, to pursue the same atxidies, and to aim at the 
same results. In addition lo these artificial varieties, 
there are natural differences* of temperament and.dispo 
sition. 

"Again ; there are about three ihousand public schools 
in the state, in which are empVyed, in the course of 
the year, about five thousand different persons, as 
teachers, including both males and females. Except- 
ing a very few cases, these five thousand persons have 
had no special preparation or training for their employ- 
ment, and many of them are young and without expe- 
r'cnce. These five thousand teachers, then, so many 



198 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 

A dilemma.— Neither horn to be chosen. 

of whom are unprepared, are to be placed in authoriU 
over the one hundred and ninety -two thousand children, 
so many of whom have been perverted. Withou 
passing through any transition state for improvement, 
these parties meet each other in the schooLoom, 
where mutiny and msubordination and disobedience 
are to be repressed, order maintained, knowledge ac- 
quired. He, therefore, who denies the necessity cf 
resorting to punishment, in our schools, — and to cor 
poral punishment, too, — virtually affirms two things :- - 
first, that this great number of children, scooped up 
from all places, taken at all ages and in all conditions, 
can be deterred from the wrong and attracted to the 
right without punishment ; and secondly, he asserts 
that the five thousand persons whom the towns and 
districts employ to keep their respective schools, are 
now, and in the present condition of things, able to 
accomplish so glorious a work. Neither of these prop 
ositions am I at present prepared to admit. If there 
are extraordmar>' individuals — and we know there are 
such — so singularly gifted with talent* and resources, 
and with the divine quality of love, that they can win 
the affection, and, by controlhng the heart, can control 
the conduct of children, who, for years, have been 
addicted to lie, to cheat, to swear, to steal, to fight, still 
r do not believe there are now five thousand such indi- 
viduals in the state, whose heavenly services can be 
obtained for this transforming work. And it is useless, 
or worse than useless to say, that such or sucli a thing 
can be done, and done immediately, without pointing 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 190 

A miracle.— Divisions in district.— East end.— West end. 

out the agents by whom it can be done. One who 
affirms that a thing can be done, without any reference 
to the persons who can do it, must be thinking of 
miracles. If the position were, that children may be 
so educated from their birth, and teachers may be so 
trained for their calling, as to supersede the necessity 
of corporal punishment, except in cases decidedly 
monstrous, then I should have no doubt of its truth ; 
but such a position must have reference to some future 
period, which we should strive to hasten, but ought not 
to anticipate." 

Aside from the causes demanding punishment, so 
ably portrayed in the passage just quoted, there is still 
another, growing out of divisions and quarrels in the 
district. It is by no means uncommon, in our districts, 
owing to some local matter, or to some disunion in 
politics or religion, for the people to be arrayed, the 
one part against the other. The inhabitants of the 
upper road are jealous of the dwellers on the lower 
road ; the hill portion of the district is aggrieved by the 
influence of the valley portion ; the " east end" com- 
plains of the selfishness of the " west end," and so of 
the north and south. Whenever a school-house is tc 
be built these different interests are aroused, and a 
protracted and baleful quarrel is the result. One party 
"carries the day" by the force of numbers, but the 
prosperity of the school is impaired for years. At 
every district meeting there will be the same strife for 
the mastery. If one division gains the power, the other 
bendiJ its energies to cripple the school, and to anno^ 



:;iO0 SCHOOL government. 

" We will see." — Disobedience encouraged. — The teacher's couree. 

the teacher who may be employed by the dominant 
party, however excellent or deserving he may be. " We 
will see," say those who find themselves in the minority, 
" we will see whether this man can keep our schocl as 
well as it was done last year by our master." This is 
littered m presence of their children — perhaps theii 
lialf-grown sons, who will be very ready to meet theii 
new teacher with prejudice and to act cut die mis 
givings of their parents as to his success. When 
the teacher first enters the school, he is met by oppo 
sition, even before he has time to make an impression 
for good ; opposition, which he can scarcely hope to 
surmount as long as it is thus encouraged at home 
Now what shall he do? Shall he yield the point, 
abandon the idea of authority, and endeavor to live 
along from day to day, in the hope of a more comforta 
ble state of things by-and-by ? He may be sure that 
matters will daily grow worse. Shall he give up in 
despair, and leave the school to some successor ? This 
will only strengthen the opposition and make it more 
violent when the successor shall be appointed. It is 
but putting the difficulty one step farther off. Besides, 
if the teacher does thus give up, and leave the school, 
he loses his own reputation as a man of energy, and, in 
the eyes of the world, who perhaps may not know — or 
care to know — all the circumstances, he is held ever 
after as incompetent for the office. 

Now it would be very gratifying if the teacher un 
der any or all of these difficullieb, could possess the 
moral power to quell them all by a look or by the exer- 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 201 



Shall he yield ? No, no.— Establish niithority. 



cise of his ingenuity in interesting his pupils ih thtiii 
studies. Undoubtedly there are some men wlio could 
do it, and do it most triumphantly, so as to make their 
most zealoua enemies in a few days their warmest 
friends. But there are not many who can work thus 
at disadvantage. What then shall be done ? Shall 
the school be injured by being disbanded, and the 
teacher be stigmatized for a failure, when he has been 
employed in good faith ? I say no. He has the right 
to establish authority by corporal infliction; and thus 
to save the school and also save himself. And more 
than this ; — if there is reasonable ground to believe thai 
by such infliction he can establish order, and thus make 
himself useful, and save the time and the character of 
the school, he not only has the right, but lie is bound 
by duty to use it. The lovers of order in the district 
have a right to expect him to use it, unless by express 
stipulation beforehand, they have exempted him from it. 
I repeat, then, that it is the teacher's duly to establish 
authority ; "peaceably, indeed, if he may, — forcibly 
if he must." 

I ought in fairness here to add, as I have before 
hinted, that not unfrequently the necessity for corporal 
mfliction exists in the teacher himself. This la often 
proved by a transfer of teachers. One man takes a 
school, and can only survive his term by the exercise 
of whipping. He is followed by another who secures 
good order and the love of the school without any resort 
to the rod. The first declared that whipping was ne- 
cessary in his case to secure good order, and truly ; but 



202 SCHOOL GOVERN aiENT. 



Daily flogging condemned.— Say nothing about t. 



the necessity resided in him and not in the school. Su 
it often does, — and while teachers are zealously defend- 
ing the rod, they should also feel the necessity of im- 
proving themselves as the most effectual way to obviate 
its frequent use. 

When authority is once established in a school, it is 
comparatively easy to maintain it. There will of course 
be less necessity for resorting to the rod after the teacher 
has obtained the ascendency, unless it be in the event 
of taking some new pupil into the school who is dis- 
posed to be refractory. I have but little respect for the 
teacher who is daily obliged to fortify his authority by 
corporal infliction. Something must be fundamentally 
wrong in the teacher whose machinery of government 
when once well in motion, needs to be so often forcibly 
wound up. 

From what has already been said, it will be seen 
that I do not belong to the number who affirm that the 
rod of correction should never he used in schools. 
iN^or am I prepared to advise any teacher to publish 
beforehand that he will not punish with the rod. It 
would always be wiser for the teacher to say nothing 
about it. Very little good ever comes of threatening 
the use of it. Threatening of any sort avails but httje. 
A teacher may enter a school with the determination to 
govern it if possible without force. Indeed I should 
advise one always to make this determination in his 
own mind. But whenever such a determination is 
published, the probabilit} of success is very much 
diminished 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT, 203 

Tiiere is an .um of power.— Proposed substitutes. — Sclitary confinement. 

The true way and the safe way, in my opinion, is tc 
rely mainly on moral means for the government of the 
school, — to use the rod without much threatening, if 
driven to it by the force of circumstances, and as soon 
as authority is established, to allow it again to slumber 
with the tacit understanding that it can be again awa- 
kened from its repose if found necessary. The knowl 
edge in the school that there is an arm of power, may 
prevent any necessity of an appeal to it; and such a 
knowledge can do no possible harm in itself. But if 
the teacher has once pledged himself to the school thai 
he will never use the rod, the necessity may soon come 
for him to abandon his position or lose his influence 
over the pupils. 

As much has been said against the use of the rod 
m any case in school government, it may be proper to 
consider briefly some of the substitutes for it, which 
have been suggested by its opposers. 

Some have urged solitary confinement. This might 
do in some cases. Undoubtedly an opportunity for 
reflection is of great use to a vicious boy. But then 
how inadequate are the means for this kind of discipline 
in our schools. Most of our school-houses have but 
one room. In such cases solitary confinement is out 
Oi the question. In other instances there may be (as 
'.here always should be) a room, not constantly devoted 
to the purposes of the school. Here a pupil could be 
confined ; and I have no objection whatever to this 
course, provided tlie room is not a dark one, and its 
temperature caii be comfortable. But even with tliif 



204 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 



Its futility.— Parental folly.— Expulsion. 

facility, confinement cannot be relied on as ibe only 
punishment, because if offenses should multiply, and 
the offenders should all be sent to the same place, then 
confinement would soon cease to be solitary ! And 
suppose some philanthropist should devise a plan of a 
school-house with several cells for the accommodation 
of offenders ; still this punishment would fail of its 
purpose. The teacher has no power to confine a pupil 
much beyond the limit of school hours. This the 
obstinate child would understand, and he would there- 
fore resolve to hold out till he must be dismissed, and 
then he would be the triumphant party. He could 
boast to his fellows that he had borne the punishment, 
and that without submission or promise for the future 
he had been excused because his time had expired. 

This substitute is often urged by parents, who have 
tried it successfully in case of their own children in 
their own houses, where it was known that it could 
of course be protracted to any necessary length. Be- 
sides, if the confinement alone was not sufi&cient, the 
daily allowance of food could be withheld. Undei 
such circumstances it may be very effectual, as un- 
doubtedly it often has been ; but he is a very shallow 
parent who, having tried this experiment upon a single 
child, with all the facihties of a parent, prescribes it 
with the expectation of equal success in the govern- 
ment of a large school. 

Others have urged the expulsion of such scholars as 
are disobedient. To this it may be replied tliai it is 
not (juite certain, under existing laws, whetlier the 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 205 



Not expedient.— Why ?— Mr. Mann quoted. 



teacher has the right to expel a scholar from the 
common schools ; and some deny even the right of the 
school officers to do it. Whether the right exists or 
not, it is very questionable whether it is ever expedient 
to expel a scholar for vicious conduct ; and especially 
in cases where there is physical power to control him 
The vicious and ignorant scholar is the very one who 
most needs the reforming influence of a good educa- 
tion. Sent away from the fountain of knowledge and 
virtue at this — the very time of need — and wliat mav 
we expect for him but utter ruin "^ Such a pupil most 
of all needs the restraint and the instruction of a 
teacher who is capable of exercising the one and 
affording the other. 

But suppose he is dismissed, is there any reason to 
hope that this step will improve the culprit himself, or 
better the condition of the school ? Will he not go on 
to establish himself in vice, unrestrained by any good 
influence, and at last become a suitable subject for the 
severity of the laws, an inmate of our prisons, and 
perhaps a miserable expiator of his own crimes upon 
the gallows ? How many youth — and youth worth 
saving, too — have been thus cast out perversely to 
procure their own ruin, at the very time when they 
might have been saved by sufficient energy and benev- 
olence, no mortal tongue can tell ! Nor is the school 
itself usually benefited by this measure. " For all 
purposes of evil," Mr. Mann justly remarks, " he con- 
tinues in the midst of the very children from among 
whom he was cast out ; and when he associates with 



Zi)6 SCHOOL GOVER^MEMT. 

" Free trade."— A creed, and its basis.— The Scriptures. 

them out of school, there is no one present to abate 
or neutralize his vicious influences. If the expelled 
pupil be driven from the district where he belongs into 
another, in order to prevent his contamination at home, 
what better can be expected of the place to which he 
is sent, than a reciprocation of the deed, by their 
sending one of their outcasts to supply his place ; and 
thus opening a commerce of evil upon free-trade prin 
ciples. Nothing is gained while the evil purpose re 
mains in the heart. Reformation is the great desi 
deratum ; and can any lover of his country hesitate 
between the alternative of forcible subjugation and 
victorious contumacy ^" 

From all that has been said, it will be seen that I do 
not hesitate to teach that corporal infliction is one of 
the justifiable means of establishing authority in the 
schoolroom. To this conclusion I have come, after 
a careful consideration of the subject, modified by the 
varied experience of nearly twenty years, and by a 
somewhat attentive observation of the workings of all 
the plans which have been devised to avoid its use or 
to supply its place. And although I do not understand 
the Scriptures, and particularly the writings of Solo- 
mon, to recommend a too frequent and ill-considered 
Wf'Q of it, 1 do not find any thing in the letter or spirit 
of Christianity inconsistent with its proper application 
It is the abuse, and not the use of the rod, against which 
our better feeling, as well as the spirit of^ Christianity, 
revolts It is the abuse of the rod, or rather the abuse 
of children under the infliction if the rod, that first 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 207 

Limitations.— The best thing.— Never m anger. 

called forth the discussion referred^to, and awakened 
the general opposition to its use. I am free to admit 
there has been an egregious abuse in this matter, and 
what to this day it is unabated in many of our schools. 
I admit, loo, that abuse very naturally accompanies the 
ase of the rod, and that very great caution is necessary 
in those who resort to it, lest they pervert it. I feel 
called upon therefore before leaving this subject to 
thrown out for the consideration of the young Teacher 
particularly, a few hints to regulate the infliction of 
chastisement, under the head of 



SECTION v.- LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. The teacher should be thoroughly convinced 
that the rod is the best thing for the specific case, be- 
fore he determines to use it. Nor should he hastily or 
capriciously come to this conviction. He should care- 
fully and patiently try other means first. He should 
study the disposition of the offender and learn the ten- 
dencies of his mind ; and only after careful delibera 
tion, should he suffer himself to decide to use this 
mode of punishment. In order that the punishment 
should be salutary, the scholar should plainly see that 
the teacher resorts to it from deep principle, from the 
full belief that under all the circumstances it is the best 
thing that can he done. 

2. The teacher should never be under the exciteineni 
jf angry passion when inflicting the punishment. 
This is of the utmost importance. M</St of the abuses 



208 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 

The young Shalter, — Public opinion. — In presence of the school. 

before spoken of, grow oul of a violation of this fun- 
damenlal rule. A teacher should never strike foi 
punishment till he is perfectly self-possessed, and en- 
tirely free from the bitterness which perhaps tinctured 
his mind when he discovered the offense. It was a 
wise remark of a young Shaker teacher, that *' no 
teacher should strike a child till he could hold his army 
So long as the child discovers that the teacher is undei 
the influence of passion, and that his lip trembles with 
pent-up rage, and his blood flows into his face as if 
driven b3Mnward fires of wrath, he looks upon him, not 
as his fiiend seeking his welfare, but as his enemy 
indulging in persecution. This will call forth the evil 
passions of the child, and while he bears the pain, he 
feels no real penitence ; and very likely in the midst 
of his suff'ering he resolves to go and do the same 
again, out of mere spite. 

It is moreover of great consequence in the infliction 
of a punishment, that the teacher should be fully sus- 
tained by the public opinion of the school. He can 
never expect this when he loses his self-control. If the 
pupils see that he is angry, they almost instinctively 
sympathize with the weaker party, and they associate 
the idea of injustice with the action of the strongei. 
A punishment can scarcely be of any good tendency, 
inflicted under such circumstances. 

3. Corporal punishment, as a genera, rule, should 
he inflicted in p7'e^ence of the school. I have be- 
fore advised that reproof should be given in private, 
and assigned reasons for it, which were perhaps 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 209 

Reasons for it. — Punishment delayed. 

Batisfactory to the reader. But in case of corporal pun- 
ishment, the offense is of a more pubhc and probably 
of a more serious nature. If inflicted in private, it will 
still be known to the school, and therefore the reputation 
of the scholar is not saved. If inflicted in the proper 
spirit by the teacher and for proper cause, it always 
produces a salutary eff'ect upon the school. But a still 
stronger reason for making the infliction public is, that 
it puts it beyond the power of the pupil to misrepresen* 
the teacher, as he is strongly tempted to do if he is 
alone. He may misstate the degree of severity, and 
misrepresent the manner of the teacher ; and, without 
witnesses, the teacher is at the mercy of his reports. 
Sometimes he may ridicule the punishment to his 
comrades, and lead them to believe that a private in- 
fliction is but a small matter ; again, he may exag 
gerate it to his parents, and charge the teacher most 
unjustly with unprincipled cruelly. Under these cir- 
cumstances, I am of the opinion that the safest and ' 
most effectual way, is to do this work in presence of 
the school. An honest teacher needs not fear the light 
of day ; and if he has the right spirit, he needs not fear 
the effect upon his other pupils. It is only the violent, 
angry punishment that needs to be concealed from the 
general eye, and that we have condemned as improper 
at any rale. 

4 Vvm\&\\mQul may sometimes he delayed; and al- 
ways delayed till all anger has subsided in the teacher, ' 
It is often best for all concerned to defer an infliction 
for a day or more. This gives the teacher an opportu- 

14 



210 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 



Reason for delay.— The iustrament.— Punishment effectual 

nity in his cooler moments to determine more justly the 
degree of severity to be used. It will also give the 
culprit time to reflect upon the nature of his offense 
and the degree of punishment he deserves. I may say 
that it is generally wise for the teacher after promising 
a punishment tu ta^e some time to consider wliat it 
shall he, whether a corporal infliction or some milder 
treatment. If after due and careful reflection he comes 
conscientiously to the conclusion, that bodily pain is the 
best thing, — while he will be better prepared to inflict, 
the pupil by similar reflection will be better prepared 
to receive it and profit by it. 

5. A. proper instrument should be used and di proper 
mode of infliction adopted. No heavy and hurtful 
weapon should be employed. A light rule for the 
hand, or a rod for the back or lower extremities, may 
be preferred. Great care should be exercised to avoid 
injuring any of the joints in the infliction ; and on no 
account should a blow he given upon the head. 

6. If possible, the punishment should be made eflec 
tual. A punishment that does not produce thorough 
submission and penitence in the subject of it, can hardly 
be said to answer its main design. To be sure, in 
cases of general insubordination in the school, I have 
said that punishment may be applied to one, having in 
view tlie deternng of others from similar offenses. But 
such exemplary punishment belongs to extreme cases 
while disciplinary punishment, which has mainly for 
its object the reformation of the individual upon whom 
it is mflicted, should be most relied on Taking either 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 21 J 

Deliberation, and thorough work. — " Little whippings." 

view of the case, it should if possible answer its design, 
or it would be better not to attempt it. The teacher's 
judgment, therefore, should be very carefully exercised 
ui the matter, and all his knowledge of human nature 
should be called into requisition. If after careful and 
conscientious deliberation he comes to the conclusion 
that the infliction of pain is the best thing, and to the 
belief that he can so inflict it as to show himself to the 
school and to the child, in this act as in all others, a 
true and kind friend to the child, — then he is justified 
in making the attempt ; and having considerately un- 
dertaken the case, it should be so thorough as not soon 
to need repetition. 

I would here take the opportunity to censure the 
practice of those teachers who punish every little de- 
parture from duty with some trifling appliance of the 
rod, which the scholar forgets almost as soon as the 
smarting ceases. Some instructors carry about with 
them a ratan or stick, in order to have it ready for 
appliance as soon as they see any departure from their 
commands. The consequence is, they soon come to 
a frequent and inconsiderate use of i\ and the pupils 
by habit become familiar with it, and of course cease 
to respect their teacher or to dread his punishments. 
1 have seen so much of this, that whenever 1 see a 
teacher thus " armed and equiprted,^^ I infer at once 
that his school is a disorderly one, an inference almost 
^variably confirmed by a few minutes' observation. 
My earnest advice to all young teachers would be, 



212 SCHOOL GO'VjSRNMENT 

llow to discuss this subject.— Experience of very young men. 

next to the habit of scolding incessantly, avoid the 
habit of resorting to the rod on every slight occasion. 
When that instrument is not demanded for some special 
exigency, some great occasion and some high purpose 
allow it to slumber in a private corner of your desk 
not again to be called into activity till some moral con- 
vulsion shall disturb its quiet repose. 

I have a single caution to give in regard to the dis- 
cussion of this subject, which in all our educational 
gatherings occupies so much time and talent. It is 
this : — Do not adopt a general principle from too few 
inductions. There is an old proverb that declares, 
" one swallow does not make a summer." Young 
teachers are very prone to rely on the experience of a 
single term. If they have kept one term without cor- 
poral punishment, they are very likely to. instruct theii 
seniors with their experience ; and if they have happened 
to be so situated as to be compelled to save themselves 
by the rod, why then too their experience forever settles? 
the question. It requires the experience of more than 
one, or two, or three schools, to enable a man to speak 
dogmatically on this subject ; and I always smile wher 
T hear men, and sometimes very young men, who have 
never kept school in their lives, perhaps, or at most but 
a single term, speaking as with the voice of authority. 
Experience is indeed one of our safest guides in this as 
in every other matter; but they who tell their expe- 
rience should at least wait till they have that which is 
worthy to he told. 

There is another point. It is quite fashionable at the 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 213 



Resolutions -A false position. — French resolution. 

present day, whenever this subject is to be discussed, 
to propose th e matter in the form of a resolution ; as, 
" Resolved, that no person is fit to be employed as a 
teacher, who cannot govern his scholars by holier means 
than l)odily chastisement ;" or, " Resolved, that no limit 
should be set to the teacher's right to use the ' rod of 
correction,' and that they who denounce the teachers 
for resorting to it are unworthy of our confidence in 
matters of education." Now whoever presents the 
question in this form, assumes that he has drawn a line 
through the very core of the truth ; and he undertakes 
to censure all those who are unwilling to square their 
opinions by the Hne thus drawn. In the discussion a 
man must take one side or the other of the question as 
it is proposed, and consequently he may take a false 
position. The better way would be to present the 
whole subject as matter of free remark, and thus leave 
every one to present his own views honestly as they 
tie in his own mind. In this way no one is pledged to 
this or that party, but is left unprejudiced to discover 
and embrace the truth wherever it is found. 

It should moreover be remembered, that resolving 
by the vote of a meeting in order to force public opinion^ 
can never affect the truth. A few impious, heaven- 
daring men in France, at one of their revels, once 
resolved^ " there is no God !" — but did this blasphe- 
mous breath efface the impress of Deity on all this fair 
creation of his power ? And when they rose from theii 
vile debauch and sought with tottering step to leave the 
scene of madness and to court the dim forgetfulness of 



214 SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 

A more excellent way.— Higher motives first. 

sleep, — rolled not the shining orbs in heaven's high arch 
above them as much in duty to His will, as when they 
sang together to usher in creation's morning ? So it 
will ever be. Men may declare, and resolve as they 
please ; but truth is eternal and unchangeable ; and 
they are the wisest men who modestly seek to find her 
as she is, and not as their perverted imagmations would 
presume to paint her. 

Yet after all, in the government of schools, there is 
a more excellent way. There are usually easier avenues 
to the heart, than that which is found through the m 
teguments of the body. Happy is that teacher who is 
so skillful as to find them ; and gladly would I welcome 
the day when the number of such skillful and devoted 
teachers should render any further defence of the rod 
superfluous. Although I believe that day has not yet 
arrived, still, in the mean time, I most earnestly urge 
all teachers to strive to reach the higher motives and 
the finer feelings of the young, and to rely mainly for 
success, not upon appeals to fear and force, but upon 
the power of conscience and the law of reciprocal 
affection. 

As I have placed the higher motives and the more 
desirable means first in order in these remarks on 
government, so I would always have them first, and 
perseveringly employed by the teacher ; and if by ear- 
nestness in his work, by unfeigned love for the young, 
by diligence in the study of their natures, and the adapt 
ation of means to ends which true benevolence is surO 



BCHOOL GOVERNMENT 215 



Minimum the maximum ! 



to suggest, he can govern successfully without corporal 
punishment — as in a large proportion of cases I believe 
it can be done — none will rejoice more than I at such a 
desirable result ; — and I most cordially subscribe to 
the principle so happily stated by another, that in the 
government of schools, if thorough obed'ence be but 
secured and order maintained, other things being equal, 
"the minimum of punishment ts the ^,a.ximum cv 

BKCELLENCK " 



2J6 SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 



A plan.— Forethought.— An eventful moment. 



CHAPTER X. 

SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 

Every teacher before opening a school should have 
some general plan in his niind, of what he intends to 
accomplish. In every enterprise there is great advan- 
tage to be derived from forethought, — and perhaps no- 
where is the advantage greater than in the business of 
teaching. The day ot opening a school is an eventfu^ 
day to the young teacher. A thousand things crowd 
upon him at the same time, and each demands a prompt 
and judicious action on his part. The children to the 
number of half a hundred all turn their inquiring eyes 
to him for occupation and direction. They have come 
full of interest in the prospects of the new school, ready 
to engage cheerfully in whatever plans the teacher may 
have to propose ; and, I was about to say, just as ready 
lo arrange and carry into effect their own plans of dis- 
order and misrule, if they, unhappily for him and for 
themselves, find he has no system to introduce. 

What a critical — what an eventful moment is this 
first day of the term to all concerned ! The teacher's 
success and usefulness, — nay, his reputation as an 
efficient instructor, — now *' hang upon the decision ot 
an hour." An hour, too, may almost foretell whether 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 217 

Aagelic solicitude.— Low qualifications. 

the precious season of childhood and youth now before 
these in^imortals, is to be a season of profit and health 
ful culture under a judicious hand, or a season of 
wasted — perhaps worse than wasted — existence, under 
the imbecility or nriisguidance of one who '* knows not 
W'hat he does or what he deals with." 

If angels ever visit our earth and hover unseen 
around the gatherings of mortals to survey their ac- 
tions and contemplate their destmy as affected by 
human instrumentality, it seems to me there can be no 
spectacle so calculated to awaken their interest and 
enkindle their sympathy as when they see the young 
gathering together from their scattered homes in some 
rural district, to receive an impress, for weal or wo, 
from the hand of him who has undertaken to guide 
them. And, supposing them to have the power to ap- 
preciate to the full extent the consequences of human 
agency, how must they be touched with emotions of 
joy and gratitude, or shudder with those of horror and 
diead, as they witness the alternations of wisdom and 
folly, seriousness and indifference, sincerity and dupli- 
city, purity and defilement, exhibited by him who has 
assumed to be at once the director and exemplar in the 
formation of human character, at such an important 
period. How deplorable is the thought that all the fond 
hopes of the parents, all the worthy aspirings of the 
children, and all the thrilling interests of higher beings, 
Hre so often to be answered by qualifications so scanty, 
and by a spirit so indifferent in the teacher of the young. 
How sad the thought that up to this very moment so 



818 SLHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 



The first day. — A sucgestion. — Its advantat^ed. 



pregnant with consequences to all concerned, there lias 
been too often so little of preparation for the responsi- 
bility. 

I fain would impress the young teacher with the 
importance of having a plan for even the first day of the 
school. It will raise him surprisingly in the estimation 
of the pupils and also of the parents, if he can make an 
expeditious and efficient beginning of the school. While 
the dull teacher is slowly devising the plans he will be 
and by present for the employment and improvement 
of his school, the children taking advantage of their own 
exemption from labor, very promptly introduce their 
own plans for amusing themselves or for annoying 
him ; — whereas if he could but have his own plans al- 
ready made, and could promptly and efficiently carr;y 
them into execution, he would forestall their mis 
chievous designs, and make co-operators out of his 
»/pposers. 

In order to be sure of a successful commencement, 
I would recommend that the teacher should go into the 
district a few days before the school is to begin. By 
careful inquiry of the trustees or the school committee, 
he can ascertain what is the character of the district 
and the wants of the school. This will afford him con- 
siderable aid. But he should do more than this. He 
would do well to c^U on several of the families of the 
district whose children are to become members of his 
school. This he can do without any ceremony, simply 
saying to them that, as he has been appointed their 
teariier he is desirous as far as he may to asct^rtair 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. i^lli 



Injportant inquiries. — Caution against meanness. 



their wants, in order to be as prompt as possible in the 
organization of his school. He will of course see the 
children themselves. From them he can learn what 
was the organization of the school under his prede 
cesser ; how many studied geography, how many arith- 
metic, grammar, &;c. ; and he can also learn whether 
the former organization w^as satisfactory to the district 
or not. The modes of government, and the methods 
of interesting the pupils practised by the former 
teacher, would be likely to be detailed to him ; and 
from the manner of both parents and children, he could 
judge whether similar methods would still be desirable 
in the district. By calling on several of the largest 
families in this way, he would learn beforehand very 
accurately the state of the school and the state of the 
district. 

I will take this occasion to insist that the teacher, 
in these visits, should heartily discourage any for- 
wardness, so common among children, to disparage 
a former teacher. It should be his sole object to gain 
useful information. He should give no signs of pleas 
ure in listening to any unfavorable statements as to his 
predecessor ; and I may add that during the progress 
of the school, he should ever frown upon any attempt 
on tiie part of the pupils to make comparisons deroga ' 
tory to a former teacher. This is a practice' altogether 
too prevalent in our schools ; and I am sorry to say 
there are still too many teachers who are mean enough 
10 countenance it. Such a course is unfair, becausti 
fhe absent party may be grossly misrepresented ; it is 



220 SrHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 

Making personal friends. — A common error,— Mr. Abbot 

dangerous, because it lends to cultivate a spirit o( 
letraction in the young ; and it is mean, because the 
party is absent and has no opportunity of defending 
himself. 

Another important advantage of the visits proposed 
would be, that he would make the acquaintance of many 
of the children beforehand, and very likely, too, if he 
should go in the right spirit and with agreeable manners, 
he would make a favorable impression upon them, and 
thus he would have personal friends on his side to 
begin with. The parents too would see that he took 
an interest in his employment ; that he had come 
among them in the spirit of his vocation — in the spirit 
of earnestness, and they would become interested m 
his success, — a point of no small importance. 

I might here caution the teacher against a very com 
nion error. He should not confine his visits to the 
more wealthy and influential families. The poor and 
the humble should receive his attentions as soon as the 
rich. From the latter class very likely a large portion 
of his school will come ; and it is wrong in principle as 
well as policy to neglect those who have not been as 
successful as others in the one item of accumulatina 
properly. 

On the dxy of opening the school he should be early 
at the school-house. Mr. Abbot, in liis Teacher, has 
some valuable suggestions on this point. " It is desi 
rable," hes says, " that the young teacher should meet 
his scholars at first in an unofficial capacity. For this 
purpose, he should repair to the schoolroom, on the first 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 221 

Early at the school.— Why ?— It should be habitual. 

day, at an early liour, so as to see and become ac- 
quainted with the scholars as they come in, one by one. 
He may take an interest with them in all the little ar- 
rangements connected with the opening of the schoeL 
The building of the fire, the paths through the snow, tne 
arrangement of seats, call .ng upon them for information 
or aid, asking their names, and, in a word, entering fully 
and freely into conversation with them, just as a parent, 
under similar circumstances, would do with his children. 
All the children thus addressed will be pleased with the 
gentleness and affability of the teacher. Even a rough 
and ill-natured boy, who has perhaps come to the school 
with the express determination of attempting to make 
mischief, will be completely disarmed by being asked 
pleasantly to help the teacher fix the fire, oi alter the 
position of a desk. Thus by means of the half hour 
during which the scholars are coming together, the 
teacher will find, when he calls upon the children to 
take their seats, that he has made a large number of 
them his personal friends. Many of these will have 
communicated their first impressions to others, so that 
he will find himself possessed, at the outset, of that 
which is of vital consequence in opening any adminis- 
tration — a strong party m his favor." 

It will be well for the teacher, for several days, botli 
in the morning and afternoon, to be early at the school- 
room. He can thus continue his friendly iiUercourse 
with the pupils, and effectually prevent any concerted 
action among them at thai 1/ ur to embarrass his gov 
ernment. Many a school has been seriously injured, if 



222 M5H00L ARRANGEMENTS. 

Roguery promoted.— A day's work.—" What sliall 1 do ?" 

not broken up, by the scholars' being allowed to 
assemble early at the school with nothing to occupy 
them and no one to restrain them. Having so con- 
venient an opportunity for mischief, their youthful 
activity wnll be very likety to find egress in an eviJ 
direction. Many a tale of roguery could be told 
founded upon the incidents of the schoolroom before 
school hours, if those who have good memories would 
but reveal their own experience ; — roguery that never 
would have occurred, had the ♦eacher adopted the 
r-ourse here suggested 

SECTION I.-PLAN OF THE DAY'S WORK 

It will be remembered by many of the readers ot 
this volume, that in former times numerous teachers 
were accustomed to work without a plan, attempting to 
do their work just as it happened to demand attention, 
but never taking the precaution to have this demand 
under their own control. If one scholar or class was 
not ready to recite, another would be called ; and there 
being no particular time for the various exercises, the 
school would become a scene of mere listlessness ; and 
the teacher would hardly know how to find employment 
for himself in the school. 

I shall make this point clearer by an example. 
Having occasion, in an official capacity, to visit a school 
which had been kept by a young teacher some twc 
weeks, she very naturally asked — " What shall I da 
first, this afternoon ^" 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 223 

" Yes, m'm,"— Veto.— A hard time.— A iiint given. 

" Do precisely as you would if I had not come in." 
was the reply. 

She looked a little perplexed. At length she 
doubtingly asked, — '' Is the geography lesson ready ^" 

** Yes, m'm"—" No, m'm"—" Yes, m'm,"— was the 
ambiguous reply from the class. There was so much 
uf veto in the looks of the 3^oung geographers, that ii 
amounted to prohibition- 

" Well, are the scholars in Colburn's arithmetic 
ready ?" 

This was said with more of hope ; but the same 
equivocal answer was vociferated from all parts of the 
room. The teacher, placing her finger upon her lip, 
looked despairingly ; but recollecting one more resort, 
she said, — " Is the grammar class ready ?" 

Again came the changes on " Yes, m'm," and " No, 
m'm." 

The teacher gave up, and asked what she sftould do. 
She was again told to go on as usual for that afternoon. 
It was a tedious afternoon to her as it was to her 
visitor. She at length called one of the classes, unpre- 
pared as many of them said they were, and the exercise 
showed that none but those who said " Yes, m'm", were 
mistaken. The whole afternoon seemed to be one of 
pain and mortification to all concerned ; and I fancied 
I could almost read in the knitted brow of the teacher 
a declaration that that should be her last school. 

At the close of the afternoon, a single hint was sug- 
gested to her, — viz., that she should make out a list of 
her scholars' duties, and the times when they should be 



224 SCHOOL arrangements. 

Improvement. — A case supposed. — Classification. 

expected to recite their several lessons. She was told 
that it would be well to explain this plan of her day's 
vork to her school in the morning, and then never 
again ask whether a class was ready. The hint wap 
laken ; ,ind on subsequent visitations the several 
classes were ever ready to respond to the call of their 
instructor. 

Now this matter is no unimportant one tr the teacher 
Indeed I judge of a teficher's ability very much by the 
wisdom and tact with w jich he apportions his time for 
Ins own duties, and divides the time of his scholars 
between their studies and recitations. 

In order to aid the young teacher in forming a plan 
for himself, I subjoin a scheme of a day's duties^ 
adapted to a school of the simplest grade. Suppose a 
school to consist of thirty scholars, and that the teacher 
hnds by inquiry and by examination that there may be 
four grand divisions ; the first, which he designates [iV,] 
may unite in pursuing Reading, Grammar, Mental 
Arithmetic, Written Arithmetic, and Writing. The 
second, [B,] can pursue Reading, Spelling, Writing, 
Geography, Mental and Written Arithmetic. The 
third, [C,] attend to Reading, Spelling, Mental Arith- 
metic, Writing, and Geography. The fourth, [D,] 
consisting of the small pupils, attend to Reading, Spell 
ixxg, Tables, and sundry slate exercises. 

Now it is very desirable that as much time should 
be devoted to recitation as can be afforded to each 
class. It may be seen at once, thai in certain s'udies, as 
geograchv, mental arithmetic, and spelling — the teacher 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 225 



Preliminary considerations. — A scheme. 



can as \^ell attend to fifteen at once as to seven. In 
these studies, unless tVie disparity in age and attain 
nnent is very great, two divisions can very propeilj 
be united. Ah can be taught writing at once, thus 
receiving the teacher's undivided attention for the time 
Besides, it is necessary to reserve some httle time foi 
change of exercises, and also for the interruptionb 
which must necessarily occur. The recesses are to 
be provided for, and some time may be needed fur 
uivestigation of violations of duty, and for the punish- 
ment of offenders. All this variety of work will occui 
in every school, even the smallest. Now, if the teachei 
does not arrange this in accordance with some plan, he 
will be very much perplexed, even in a small school ; 
and how much more in a large one ! He will do well 
very carefully to consider the relative importance of 
each exercise to be attended to, and then to write out 
his scheme somewhat after the following model. It 
must not be forgotten that studying is also to be 
provided for, and that it is just as important that 
the pupils should be regular in this as in recitation. 
fndeed, without such regularity he cannot expect ac- 
ceptable recitations. 

ID 



226 



SCHOOL ARUANGEMENTS. 



Program. 

For the above supposed circumstances. 



Tiin&. 


M. 


Recitations, ^c. 


Studies, 


9 to 9.15 


15 


Reading Script., & Prayer. 




9.15 to 9.40 


25 


^ D. Reading, Spelling, or l 
( Tables. S 


A. Reading; B. Arith 
C. Geography, 


9.40 to 9.42 


2 


Rest, Change of Classes, &c. 


■ 


9,42 to 10 


18 


A. Reading. 


\ B. Arith. ; C. Geog. ; 
I D. Slates. 


10 to 10.5 


5 


S Rest, Singing, or An- 
) swERiNG Questions. 




10.5 to 10.25 


20 


B. Arithmetic. 


S A. Gram. ; C. Geog. ; 
i D. Books or Cards. 


10.25 to 10.28 


3 


Rest, &c. 




10.28 to 10.48 


20 


B. & C. Geography. 


A. Gram. ; D. Recess. 


10.48 to 11 


12 


Recesss. 




11 to 11.15 
11,15 to 11.35 
11.35 to 11.50 


15 

20 
15 


D. Reading, &c. 

A. Grammar. 

B. & C. Spelling. 


S A.Gram.;B.M, Arith.; 
i C. Spelling. 
J B. Spelling ; C. Spell- 
\ ing; D. Slates. 

A. M. Arith. ; D. Books 
I or Cards. 


11.50 to 12 


10 


General Exercise. 








Intermission. 




2 to 2.15 

2.15 to 2.45 
2.45 to 3.10 

3.10 to 3.30 


15 

30 

25 

20 


D. Reading, Spelling, Tables. 

A. B. & C. Writing. 

A. & B. Mental Arithmetic. 

C. Reading. 


^ A. Arith. ; B. Reading i 
\ C. Reading. 

D. Slates. 

C. M. Arith. ; D. Recess. 

^ A. Arith. ; B. Arith. ; 
} D. Books, &e. 


S.30 to 3.40 


10 


Recesb. 




3.40 to 4 


20 


B. Reading. 


) A. Arith.4C.M.Arith.; 
I D. Drawing. 


4 to 4.5 


5 


Rest, or Singing. 




4.5 to 4.25 
4 25 to 4.55 


20 
10 


C. Mental Arithmetic. 
A. Arithmetic. 


J A. Read. ; B. Arith. or 
} Draw, ; D, Slates. 
^ B Arith. or Draw. ; C. 
} Draw.; D. Dismissed. 


4.5'5to5 


5 { Gen. Exer. and Dismission. 





SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 227 



A clock.— Study f/rovided for.— Drawing. 



Remai'ks. 

In the foregoing Program, the first column shows 
the divis on of time, and the portion allowed to each 
exercise. I need not say the teacher should be strictly 
punctual. To this end a clock is a very desirable 
article in the school. Both teacher and pupils would 
be benefited by it. The second column shows the 
recitations, admitting perhaps some variety, especially 
in case of the younger children ; while the third shows 
the occupation of those classes which are not engaged 
in recitation. 

It will be seen that the classes are studying those 
lessons which they are soon to recite ; and, as in this 
case it is supposed that all the lessons will be learned 
in school, each one has been provided for. It would 
be well, however, in practice to require one of the 
studies to be learned out of school, in which case no 
time should be allowed to the study of that branch in 
the program. 

It will be perceived that drawing is placed as the 
occupation of the younger classes near the close of 
tlie afternoon. This is based upon the supposition^ 
that the teacher during recess has placed an example 
on the blackboard, to be copied by the children upon 
their slates. This is perhaps the most eflfectua) way 
to teach drawdng to children. Those more advanced, 
however, may use paper and pencil, and draw from 
an engrpved copy, or from a more finished specimen 



228 SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 

An assistant. — A large school. — Alternation- — Thorough work. 

furnished from the teacher's portfolio. It is essentia] 
that the teacher should, if possible, give some speci 
mens of his own in this branch. 1 have seldom 
known a teacher to excite an interest in drawing 
who relied altogether upon engravings as models foi 
imitation. 

It should be remarked further concerning such a 
program, that in case of an assistant in the school, 
two columns under the head of Recitations should be 
formed — one for the principal's classes, and one for the 
assistant's. If there are a few talented scholars, who 
are able to do more than their class, they can be 
allowed to join some of the classes out of their divi- 
sion, or they may be provided with an extra study, 
which will not need daily recitation. 

In case the school is much larger than the one sup- 
posed above, and the classes necessarily so numerous 
as to make the time allowed to each study very short, 
then the principle of alternation may be introduced ; 
that is, some studies may be recited Mondays, Wednes- 
days, and Fridays, — and some other studies, with other 
classes, take their places on the alternate days. It is 
decidedly better for the teacher to meet a class, in 
arithmetic for instance, especially of older pupils, but 
twice or three times a week, having time enough at 
each meeting to make thorough work, than to meet 
them daily, but for a time so short as to accomplish 
but little. The same remark may be applied to read- 
ing, and indeed almost any other branch. The idea is 
a mischievous one, that every class in reading, or ip 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 229 

Nibbling.— Difficulty of classifying. — Way to correct a sclieme. 

any other branch, must be called out four limes a day, 
or even twice a day, — except in the case of very young 
children. It may be compared to nibbling at a cracker 
as many times in a day, without once taking a hearty 
meal, — a process which would emaciate any child in 
the course of three months. These scanty nibblings 
at the table of knowledge, so often and so tenaciously 
practised, may perhaps account for the mental emacia- 
tion so often discoverable in many of our schools. 

The difficulty of classifying and arranging the exer- 
cises of a school, becomes greater as the number of 
teachers to be employed increases ; and there is much 
greater inconvenience in allow^ing any pupils to study 
out of their .own division, when the number of teachers 
is more \than one or two. Few are aware of the diffi 
cully of arranging the exercises of a large school, bul 
those who have experienced it. It can he done, how 
ever; and it should always be done as soon as possible 
after commencing the school. 

If at any time the arrangement when made is not 
t-ound to be perfect, it is not wise to change it at once. 
Let it go on a few days, and watch its defects with 
great care ; and in the mean time study, out of school, 
tc devise a better. When this has been accomplished, 
and committed to paper, and perfectly comprehended 
by the teacher, it may be posted up in the schoolroom, 
and the day announced when it will gc into operation. 
Il will soon be understood by the pupils, and the change 
can thus be made without the loss of time. 

Time for reviews of the various lessons could be 



iW SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 

Program of a large school. — Next page. 

found by setting aside the • regular lessons for some 
particular day, once a week, or once in two weeks ; 
and for composition, declamation, &c., a half day 
should be occasionally or periodicallj'^ assigned. 

In order to give the reader a more complete idea cf 
arrangement under varied circumstances, I subjoin the 
program of the New York State Normal School, as 
copied by the Executive Committee in their Annual 
Report, made January, 1846. 

It should be borne in mind that this was the pro- 
gram for only a part of one term ; and also that in this 
Institution, the studying is done out of school hours, 
the time of regular session, with very few exceptions 
being entirely devoted to recitations or general inslruc 
tion. See next page. 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 



231 



Program of New -York State Normal School. 

October 20, 1845, and onward. 



Time. 


Exercises. 


Teachers. 


9 A. M. to 9.3C 


Chapel Exercises, &c. in Lecture Room. 






A. Class, Trigonometry and Surveying .... 
B Class Al'^ebra 


Prof. PerkiiiH. 
Mr. Clark 




C. Class Higher Arithmetic 


Mr. Webb. 


9.30 to 10.15 


D. Class. Algebra 


Mr. Eaton. 




E. Class. Grammar 

p Class Geosraphv 


Mr. Bowen. 
Miss Hance* 








10.15 to 10.25 


Intermission or General Exercise. 










10.25 to 11.10 


B. Class. Grammar— Tuesday and Friday . 

C. Class. Reading— Tuesday and Friday . . 

C. Class. Grammar— Montlay and Thursd. 

D. Class. History and reading, alternately . 


Mr. Bowen. 
Principal. 
Mr. Bowen. 
Miss Hance. 
Mr. Webb 




F Cl£iss. Orthography 


Mr. Eaton 








11.10 to 11.15 


Intermission. 






A. Class. Science of Government 

B. Class. Reading 


Mr. Eaton. 
Miss Hance. 


IL 15 to 12 


C. Class. Algebra— Mond., Tues. & Thurs. 

C. Class. Joins D. Class in Lecture, Natu- 1 

ral Philosophy— Friday S 

D. Class. Natural Phiiosopiiy— daily 

E. Class. Elementary Arithmetic 


Prof. Perkins. 
Mr. Clark. 
Mr. Webb. 




F. Class. Grammar ... 


Mr. Bowen. 








12 to 12.15 


Recess. 






A. Class Geometry 


Mr. Bowen. 




B. Class. Higher Arithmetic 


Prof. Perkins, 


12.15 to 1 


C. Class. Natural Philosophy 


Mr. Clark. 
Mr. Webb. 




E. Class. Reading and Orthography 

F. Class Reading 


Mr. Eaton. 
Miss Hance. 








1 to 1.5 


Intermission. 






A. Class. Chemistrv • . 


Mr Clark. 


1.5 to 1.50 


B. and C. Classes. Human Physiology 

D. Class. Grammar 


Principal. 
Mr. Bowen. 




E. Class. Mental Arithmetic 


Miss Hance 






Mr. Webb. 








1.50 to 2 


Dismission. 





Wednesday is devoted to Penmanship, Composition, Declamation, 
Lectures," Lectures, and General Exercises 



Sub- 



3 P. M. to 4.30 



VOCAL MUSIC. 

A. Class. Mond. ) 

B. Class. Wed. ^Mr.Ilsley 

C. Class. Friday. ) 



A. Class. Tuesd. 

B. Class. Thurs. 

C. Class. Satur. 



Mr. 
Howard. 



232 SCHOOL ARRANGEMET^JTS. 

Models not to be copied. — Teacher must think. — Interruptions. 

If I have devoted considerable space to this subject, 
it is because 1 deem it of very great importance to the 
teacher's success. With one other remark I dismiss 
it. These models are not given to be servilely copied. 
They are given to illustrate the great principle. The 
circumstances of schools will be found to vary so 
widely, that no model, however perfect in itself, would 
answer for all. The teacher must exercise his own 
ingenuity and judgment to meet his own wants ; and 
in general it may be remarked that where a teacher has 
not the skill to adapt his own plans to his own circum- 
stances, he can hardly be expected to succeed in carry- 
'nor out the plans of another. 



SECTION II.-INTERRTJPTIONS. 

In every school consisting of pupils of different ages 
and circumstances, there will be more or less of inter- 
ruption to the general order and employment of the 
school. Some of the Dupils have never been trained 
to system at home ; perhaps most of them may have 
been positively taught to disregard it at school. Al 
any rate, " it must needs be," in this particular, " thai 
offenses come." Nor should the teacher lose his pa- 
tience though he should be often disturbed by the 
thoughtlessness of his pupils. He should expect it as 
a matter of course, and exercise his ingenuity as far as 
possible to prevent it. It may well be one of his sources 
of enjoyment to witness an improvement in the habits 
of his pupils in regard to system. 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 233 

A scene from nature. — Business accumulates. — A crisis. 

These inlerniplions proceed from various causes, — 
such as soliciting leave to speak, or to go out , asking 
for some assistance in learning lessons, or for leave to 
drink, oi to stand by the fire ; requesting tlie teacher 
to mend pens, or to set copies ; disorderly conduct in 
pupils, making it necessary, in his judgment, to admin- 
ister reproof or punishment in the midst of other duties, 
— and sometimes the vociferous and impatient maK:ng 
of complaints by one scholar against another. 

How many times 1 have seen a teacher involved in 
indescribable perplexity, while trying to perform the 
duty of instruction, and to " get through" in time 
While hearing a grammar lesson, a scholar brings 
up his atlas to have some place pointed out which 
he had upon one trial failed to find. The teacher 
turning to look for the place, is addressed with "Please 
mend my pen," from another quarter. Having the 
knife in hand,, as if such things were to be expected, 
the obliging teacher takes the pen, and holding it be 
tween his eyes and the atlas, endeavors to shape its nil 
and to discover the city at the same glance. " Jane 
keeps a pinching me," — vociferates a little girl who i?' 
seated behind the class. " Jane, Jane," says the 
teacher, turning away from both the nib and the city, 
' Jane, come to me instantly." Jane with the guilty 
fingers thrust far into her mouth makes her way side 
!ing towards the teacher. " May 1 go out ?" — says 
John, who is thinking only of his own convenience. 
" No, no" — answers the teacher, a little pettishly, as if 
conscious that in a crisis like this, a request simply to 



234 SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 

A pail of water. — A juncture and a conjunction ! — A truce. 

breathe more freely is scarcely justifiable. " Please 
sir, let me and Charles go out and get a pail of water 
This is said by a little shrewd-looking, round-faced 
light-haired boy, who has learned how to select his 
tizne, and to place the emphasis upon the ^^ please, sir.'' 
The teacher by this time being considerably fretted by 
such an accumulation ot business on his hands, very 
naturally thinks of the refreshment contained in a pail 
of cool water, and very good-naturedly answers the 
little urchin in the affirmative, who most likely is by 
this time more than half way out of the door, so confi- 
dent is he of success. Just at this juncture a consid- 
erate-looking miss in the class earnestly appeals to the 
teacher, to know if the word next but three to the last, 
was not a common noun, though called a conjunction ! 
This reminds the teacher that several words have been 
parsed without his notice, and he asks the class to 
* stop there.'* Glancing at his watch, he discovers that 
he has gone three minutes beyond the time for recess, 
and he relieves himself by saying, " boys may go out." 
This grants a truce to all parties. The pen goes back 
unmended ; the atlas with its sought city undiscovered ; 
John "goes out" now by common law, taking to himself 
the credit of this happy release, as he asked only to 
remind the master that it was time for recess; Jane 
takes both thumb and finger from her precious little 
mouth, and smiling seats herself by the side of her late 
challenger, who is by this time more than half repentant 
of her own impatience ; the shrewd-looking urchin and 
his companion return with the refreshing pail of water, 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 235 

Sunshine again —Lancaster's motto. — System. 

— the boys and girls gather round to obtain the first 
draught, while the little chubby-faced lad comes for 
ward, clothed in smiles, with a cup filled with the 
cooling Hquid on purpose for the master ; the boon is 
accepted, the perplexed brow becomes placid, and all 
is sunshine again. — This is not a very extravagant 
picture of tlie interruptions in a district school. Those 
who have been brought up in such a school, will 
recognise the fidelity of the likeness^ as it has been 
drawn from nature. 

Now whoever has any knowledge of human nature, 
and of school teaching, will at once see that this is all 
wrong. It is a law of our being, that we can do well 
but one thing at a time. He who attempts more, must 
do what he attempts but very imperfectly. There was 
a great deal of wisdom embodied in that motto which 
used to be placed in the old Lancasterian schools ; " A 

TIME FOR EVERY THING, AND EVERY THING IN ITS 

TIME." It should be one of the mottoes of every 
teacher. In the construction of the plan or program 
for the day's duties, great care should be taken to 
provide for all these little things. If whispering is 
to be allowed at all in school, let it come into one 
of the intervals between recitations. If assistance in 
getting lessons is to be asked and rendered, let it 
be done at a time assigned for the special purpose 
As far as possible, except in extreme cases, let the 
discipline be attended to at the time of general ex- 
ercise, or some other period assigned to it, so thai 
tliere shall not be a ludicrous mixture ot punish- 



2ii6 feCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 



Teaching delightful. — When? — Reverse. — Recesses.— How often? 

ments and instruction during the progress ot a clas*? 
exercise 

It is pleasant to visit a school, where every thing is 
done and well done at its proper time. Teaching 
under such circumstances, becomes a delightful ein 
ployment. But where all is confusion, and the teacher 
allows himself by the accumulation of irregularities to 
be oppressed and perplexed, it is one of the most 
wearing and undesirable vocations o^ ^arth. The 
teacher goes to his lodgings harassed with care, op 
pressed with a consciousness of the imperfection of 
his labors, and exhausted by the unnatural and unwar 
rantable tax imposed upon his mental faculties. He 
groans under the burden incident to his calling, and 
longs to escape from it, never once dreaming, perhaps 
that he has the power of relieving himself by the intro 
duction of system, and thus changing his former bahel 
into a scene of quietness and order. 



SECTION III.— RECESSES'. 

In speaking of the arrangements of a school, the sub- 
ject of recesses demands attention. It is the belief oi 
many enlightened instructors, that the confinement in 
most of our schools is still too protracted, and that 
more time devoted to relaxation would be profitable 
both to the physical and the mental constitution of our 
youth. Some have urged a recess of a few minutes 
every hour, in order to afford opportunity for a change 
of position and i change of air. This could better be 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 23" 

One each session. — Ten minutes to each sex. — Separate playground. 



done in schools composed only of one sex, or where 
the accommodation of separate yards and play-grounds 
permits both sexes to take a recess at the same time. 
Where these accommodations are wanting, and one 
sex must wait while the other is out, the time- re 
quired for two recesses, in half a day, for the whole 
school, could scarcely be afforded. I am of the 
opinion, as our schools are at present composed, that 
one recess in the half day for each sex is all that can 
be allowed. The question then is, how can that one 
recess be made most conducive to the purposes for 
which it is designed ? 

1 . As to its duration. Ten minutes is the least time 
that should be thought of, if the children are to be kept 
closely confined to study during the remainder of the 
three hours' session ; that is, ten minutes for each sex. 
It would be a very desirable thing if our school-houses 
could be so furnished with separate play-grounds and 
separate out-door accommodations, that both sexes 
could take recess at the same time. This would save 
much time to the district in the course of a term, and it 
would also give opportunity for thoroughly ventilating 
the room during recess, while it would afford the 
teacher opportunity to take the air, and overlook the 
sports of the children to some extent, — a matter of no 
small importance. 

Where these facilities are v/anting, and the teacher 
must remain within to preside over the one half of the 
school while the others are out, he may still give ten 
minuics at least to each sex, contriving to employ 



238 SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 



Teacher's work at recesi?.— Proper hour. 



profitably the lime within doors. He may reserve thia 
time for setthng such difficulties as may have arisen in 
the school ; he may administer reproofs, inflict his pun- 
ishments if any are necessary, or he may spend *} e 
time in giving assistance to the pupils, or in dravs^ing 
upon the blackboard for the advantage of the younger 
pupils as they come in. In a large school, where a 
longer recess is the more necessary on account of thu 
bad air of the schoolroom, he will find the more duty 
to be done at this time ; so that in any event the time 
need not be lost, even \i fifteen minutes be allowed to 
each sex. 

2. As to the proper hour for recess. It was an old 
rule to have recess when " school was half done. ^^ In 
deed, this expression was often used as synonymous 
with recess in many districts twenty-five years ago. Ii 
is now generally thought better to have the recess occur 
later, perhaps when the school session is two thirds 
past. It is found that children, accustomed to exercise 
all the morning, can better bear the confinement of the 
first two hours than they can that of the third, even 
though the recess immediately precedes the third. In a 
school the half-daily sessions of which are three hours, 
I should recommend that the recess be introduced so 
as to terminate at the close of the second hour. As 
far as possible, it would be well to have all {\q pupils 
leave the room at the time recess is given them ; and 
as a general thing they should not ask lea\e to go out 
at any other time. A little system in this matter is as 
desirable as in anv other, and it is quite as feasible 



SCHOOL ARRANGEME^TS. 289 

Voxuis, children —Teachers fail in assigning lessons.— Not too long.— Why 

In a school composed partly of very young children, 
there is no difficulty in giving such children two re 
cesses each half day. Nor is there anv objection to 
such a course. It is more irksome to young children 
to bear confinement, than to the adult ; especially as 
they cannot be expected to be constantly occupied. L 
will relieve the teacher very much to have the children 
go out of the room as soon as they become fatigued , 
and, as it will promote their own health and happiness 
to go, it is very justifiable to grant them the privilege 
This may properly and easily be provided for upon the 
Program. 



SECTION IV.-ASSIGNING LESSONS. 

Many teachers fail in this department. Judging of 
the difficulty of the lesson by the ease with which they 
can acquire it, even in a text-book new to themselves, 
they not unfrequently assign more than can possibly be 
learned by the children. They forget that by long dis 
cipline of mind, and by the aid of much previously ac 
quired knowledge, the lesson becomes comparatively 
easy to them ; they forget, too, the t^il a similar lesson 
cost them when they were children. Now the effect 
of poorly learning a lesson is most ruinous to the mind 
of a child. He, by the habit of missing, comes to 
think it a small thing to fail at recitition. He loses his 
self-respect. He loses all regard for his reputaticn as 
a scholar. It is truly deplorable to see a child fail in a 
lesson with indifference. Besides, the attempt to ac- 



240 SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 

Not how much, but how well.— Good habits of study. 

quire an unreasonable lesson, induces a stip3rficial 
habit of study, — a skimming over the surface of things. 
I'he child studies, that he may live through the recita- 
tion ; not thai he may learn and remember. He passey 
thus through a book, and thinks himself wise while 
he is yet a fool, — a mistake that is no less common 
than fatal. 

The motto of the wise teacher should be, " Not 
HOW MUCH, BUT HOW WELL." He should always ask, 
is it possible that the child can master this lesson, and 
'probable that he will ? It is better that a class should 
make but very slow progress for several weeks, if they 
but acquire the habit of careful study and a pride of 
good scholarship — a dread of failure, — than that they 
should ramble over a whole field, firing at random, 
missing oftener than they hit the mark, and acquiring 
a stupid indifference to their reputation as marksmen, 
and a prodigal disregard to their waste of ammunition, 
and their loss of the game. 

In assigning lessons, the importance of good habits 
of study should be considered, and the lessons given 
accordingly. At the commencement of a term, the les- 
sons should always be short, till the ability of the pupils 
IS well understood, and tlieir habits as good students 
established. As the term progresses, they can be 
gradually lengthened as the capacity of the class will 
warrant, or their own desire will demand. It is fre 
quently judicious to consult the class about the length 
of the lessons, though to be sure their judgment can 
not always be relied on, for they are almost always 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 241 



A failure is a fault.— Reviews.— Fraquent.— Why? 



ready to undertake more than they can well perform. 
Assigning, however, somewhat less than they propose, 
will take from them all excuse for failure. When the 
lesson is given, a failure should be looked upon as a 
culpable dereliction of duty, as incompatible with a 
good conscience as it is with good scholarship. This 
high ground cannot be taken, however, unless the 
teacher has been very judicious in the assignment of 
the lesson 

SECTION V.-REVIEWS. 

In the prosecution of study by any class of students, 
frequent reviews are necessary. This is so, because 
the memory is very much aided by repetition and by 
association. But further, the understanding is often 
very much improved by a review. Manv of the sci- 
ences cannot be presented in independent parts, nor can 
all the terms employed be fully appreciated till these 
parts are again viewed as a whole. Many things which 
were but dimly seen the first time they were passed 
over, oecome perfectly clear to the mind when viewed 
afterwards in connection with what follows them. 

In conducting reviews, regard must be had to the 
age and character of the pupils, and to the branch pur- 
sued. In arithmetic, and indeed in mathematics gen- 
erally, where so much depends upon every link in the 
great chain, very frequent reviews are necessary. In- 
deed, almost daily it is profitable to call up some prin- 
ciple before gone over. In several branches, where the 

16 



*M2 SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 



Application of principles to practical life. — A gen iraJ review. 

parts Ijiave a less intimate connection, as in geographvs 
natural philosophy, and some others, the reviews may 
be at greater intervals. It would be well, I think, in 
every common school, to have a review-day once a 
week. This, besides the advantages already indicated 
will lead the children to study for something beyond 
recitation. Nor is it enough, at the review, that the 
questions of the text-book be again proposed to the 
children. If this be all, they will only exercise their 
memories. As far as possible the subject should be 
called up, and the application of principles to practical 
life should be dwelt upon. If this course is expected 
by the learners, they will think during the week, in 
order to anticipate the examination of the teacher ; and 
this thinking is more profitable to them than the know- 
ledge itself. 

It is always well, besides the periodical reviews, to 
have a general review at the close of any particular 
study. This enables the teacher to detect any false 
conceptions which the pupil has entertained during the 
first course. He can now present the subject as a 
whole, and view one part by the light of another 
In natural philosophy, how much better the law of 
reflected motion can be appreciated after the subject 
of optics has been studied, in which the doctrine 
of reflection in general has been fully discussed and 
illustrated. In physiology, what light is thiown upon 
the process of growth in the system, by the subse- 
quent chapters on absorption and secretion. How 
much clearer is the economy of respiration understood 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 243 

An exception,— Examinations not without objections, 

when viewed in connection with the circulation of 
the blood. A general review then is an enlightening 
process, anl it is always profitable, with, perhaps, one 
exception. When it is instituted with reference to a 
public examination, it is very doubtful whether the 
evil is not greater than the good. It then degenerates 
into an effort to appear well at a particular time ; it 
is again studying in order to recite ; and I look upon 
it as no small evil, that the mind should have any 
object in view which comes in between it and the 
grand desire to know, — to master the subject for its 
own sake, and not simply for the purpose of being 
able to talk about it on one great occasion. 



SECTION VI. -PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS. 

It is now the usage in all our schools to have 
public examinations, — generally at the close of a term, 
or a portion of a term, — in order to test, in some 
measure, the industry and skill of the teacher, and 
the proficiency of the pupils. I am hardly prepared 
to oppose this usage, because I am inclined to be- 
lieve examinations are of some utility as a means of 
awakening an interest in the parents of the children : 
perhaps they do something to stimulate school-officers, 
and also to excite to greater effort during the term 
both the teacher and the pupils. Still, public exam 
inations, as frequently conducted, are not without 
serious objections. 1. They certainly cannot be 
looked upon as criterions ol the faithfulness or sucpss 



244 SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 



Not to be taken as indices of proficiency.— Encourage deception. 

of teachers. A man with tact, and without honesty, 
may make his school appear to far greater advantage 
than a better man can make a better school appear. 
This has often happened. It is not the most faithful 
and thorough teaching that makes the show and 
attracts the applause at a public exhibition. It is 
the superficial, mechanical, memoriter exercise that 
is most imposing. Who has not seen a class, that 
recited by rote and in concert at a celebration, win 
the largest approbation, when many of the individuals 
knew not the import of the words they uttered. 
Names in geography have been thus " said or sung," 
when the things signified were to the children as 
really ter7'(B incognitcE as the fairy lands of Sinbad 
the, Sailor. 

2. Noi can such exhibitions be claimed justly lu 
mdicate the proficiency of the pupils. Every expe- 
rienced teacher knows that the best scholars often fail 
at a public examination, and the most indolent and 
superficial often distinguish themselves. The spec 
tators, not unfrequently, in pointing out the talent of 
the school, make the teacher smile at their blunders. 

3. They present a strong temptation to dishonesty 
on the part of the teacher. Since so much stress 
is laid upon the examination, and particularly, in some 
iegions, upon the Celebration, where several schools 
are brought together to make a show for a few hours, 
It must be rather an uncommon man who will have 
sufficient principle to exhibit his school as it is, and 
refuse to make thoFC efforts so very common to liave 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 245 

Preparation to make a show.— Sometimes useful.— When ? 



it appear what it is not. The wish, expressed or 
impHed, of the parents, and the ambition of the 
children, all conspire to make the teacher yield to 
a usage so common. Consequently, several weeks 
will be spent to prepare the children to appear in 
public. During this time, they study not for improve 
ment, not for future usefulness, but simply to make 
a show at the pubhc celebration. An unworthy and 
unwarrantable motive actuates them during all this 
process ; and, at last, unless strangely benighted, 
they aje conscious^ of holding up a false appearance 
to the world. Now, under such circumstances, what- 
ever of good is effected, by way of enkindling a zeal 
in the parents, is dearly purchased. The sacrifice 
of principle in a teacher — much more in the children 
— is a large price to pay for the applause of a few 
visitors, or even for an increase of interest among 
them in the cause of popular education. 

Examinations, however, which are less showy, and 
which are of such a character as thoroughly to sift 
the teachings that have been given, and to thwart 
any ingenious efforts specially to prepare for them — 
examinations that look back to the general teaching 
of the term, or the year, and test the accuracy and 
thoroughness of the instructions — are unquestionably 
very deshable and useful. To make them so in 
iha highest sense, and to exempt them from an evil 
tendency upon the minds of the young themselves, 
the teacher should he strictly honest. Not a lesson 
should be given with sole reference to the exliibition 



246 SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 

Great motives.— Further caution.— Teacher should be honest. 

at the close ; not an exercise should be omitted 
because the examination approaches. The good 
teacher should keep those great motives before the 
mind, which look to future usefulness, and to the 
discharge of duty. The child should be taught that 
he is accountable for what he acquires, and what 
he may acquire, and not for what he may appear 
to have acquired ; and that this accountability is not 
confined to a single day, soon to pass and be forgotten j, 
but it runs through all time and all eternity. 

I know not but the expectation of an examination 
may stimulate some to greater exert'on, and make 
them better scholars. If thi.. be so, it may be well 
enough ; and yet I should be slow to present such 
a motive to the mind of a child, because a special or 
secondary accountability always detracts from the 
general and chief. 

A strong reason, m addition to those already assigned, 
why special preparation should not be made for the 
examination, is, that where such preparation is ex 
pected, the pupils become careless in their ordinary 
exercises. 

While, then, I think too much stress is at present 
placed upon showy exhibitions and celebrations, and 
tliat objections and dangers attend examinations ^ as 
frequently conducted, I would not recommend alto- 
gether their discontinuance. I would rather urge 
that the teacher, by his inflexible honesty, should 
make them fair representations of the actual condition 
of his school, without relying very much upon thein 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 



24l 



Restrictions and limitations.— Profitable examinations. 

as a means o^ stimulating the pupils to exertion , that 
the pupils should be made to feel that the results 
of their exertion through the term, rather than a few 
special efforts near its close, would be brought inta 
review ; that no hypocrisy or management should ever 
be tolerated, in order to win the applause of the multi- 
tude; that no particular lessons should ever be assigned 
for the occasion; that it should be remembered, that 
the moral effect of an occasional failure at examination, 
will be more salutary upon the school than unbroken 
success ; and that the children are irreparably injured, 
when they are made in any way the willing instruments 
of false pretension. 

Under such circumstances, examinations may be 
profitable to all concerned. If teacher and pupils have 
done well, they have the opportunity of showing it 
without vi 'lence to their own consciences. The em- 
ployers, and patrons too, have some means of forming 
a correct estimate of the value of their school ; and 
all parties may be encouraged and stimulated. But 
bove all things, let the teacher be honest 



248 THE TEACHER S RELATION 



Talents in a clergyman. — Private charactfflr. 



CHAPTER XL 



PUPILS. 



In the choice of a clergyman, after estimating hia 
moral and religious character, and ascertaining the ordei 
of his pulpit talents, a third question remains to be an- 
swered, viz : — What are his qualifications as a pastor ? 
How is he adapted to fulfil the various relations of pri* 
vate friend and counsellor ; and in the family circle, in 
his intercourse with the aged and the young, how is he 
fitted to 

" Allure to brighter worlds and lead the way" ? 

In that sacred profession every one knows that neaily 
as much good is to be done by private intercourse as m 
^the public ministration. Many a heart can be reached 
by a friendly and informal conversation, that would re- 
main unmoved by the most powerful eloquence from the 
pulpit. Besides, many are prepared to be profited in 
the public exercises oy thai iniercourse m private which 
has opened their hearts, removed prejudice, and engen- 
dered a feeling of friendly interest in the preacher. The 
admonitions of the gospel thus have the double power 
of being trr.th, and truth uttered by the lips of a valued 
friend. 



TO THE PARENTS OF HIS PUPILS. 249 



Social qualities in a teacher.— He should call on the parents. 



It is, to some extent, thus with the school teacher 
He may be very learned and very apt to teach, and yet 
fail of success in his district. Hence it is highly im 
portant that he should possess and carefully cultivate 
those social qualities, which will greatly increase his 
usefulness. The teacher should consider it a part of 
his duty, whenever he enters a district, to excite a deeper 
interest there among the patrons of the school than they 
have ever before felt. He should not be satisfied till 
he has reached every mind connected with his charge in 
such a way, that they will cheerfully co-operate with 
him and sustain his judicious efforts for good. Being 
imbued with a deep feeling of the importance of his 
work, he should let them see that he is aUve to the in 
terests of their children. To this end, — 

1. He should seek frequent opportunities of inter 
course with the parents. Though the advances taward 
this point, by the strict rules of etiquette, should be 
made by the parents themselves — (as by some it is ac 
tually and seasonably done) — yet, as a general thing, 
taking the world as we find it, the teacher must lead the 
v;ay. He must often introduce himself uninvited to the 
people among whom he dwells, calUng at their homes 
m the spirit of his vocation, and conversing with them 
freely about his duty to their children and to themselves. 
Every parent of course will feel bound to be courteous 
xi\d civil in h.s own house ; and, by such an interview, 
perhaps a difference of opinion, a prejudice, or a sus- 
picion may be removed, and the foundation of a mutual 
pood understanding be la^d, which many little troubles 



850 TFTE TEACHER S RELATION 



Object of his calls.— He should explain his plans. 

can never shake. It may be very useful to have an in- 
terview with such parents as have been disturbed by 
some administration of disciphne upon members of their 
families. Let me not be understood, however, to recom- 
mend that the teacher should ever go to the parent in a 
cringing, unmanly spirit. It would probably be far 
better that the parties should ever remain entire stran- 
gers, than that their meeting should necessarily be an 
occasion of humiliating retrsction on the part of the 
teacher. Neither should the parents ever be allowed 
to expect that the teacher alwa3'S will as a matter of 
duty come to their confessional. But it is believed, 
if there could be a meeting of the parties as men, as 
gentlemen, as Christians, as coadjutors for the child's 
welfare, it would always be attended with good results. 
2. He should be willing to explain all his plans to 
the parents of his pupils. If they had implicit confi 
dence in him, and would readily and fully give him 
every facility for carrying forward all his designs with 
out explanation, then, perhaps, this direction might not 
be necessary. But as the world is, he cannot expect 
spontaneous confidence. They wish to know his de- 
signs, dnd it is best they should be informed of them by 
himself. The best way for the teacher to interest them 
in the business of education, will be freely to converse 
with them concernirg the measures he intends to adopt. 
ff liis plans are judicious, he of course can show good 
reasons why they should be carried into effect ; and 
parents are generally willing to listen to reason, espe- 
ciallv when it is directed to the benefit of their own 



rO THE PARENTS OF HIS PUPILS. 2^1 

Ens( urage inquirv. — No mystery. — Encourage parental viaitation. 

children. Many a parent, upon the first announcement 
of a nneasure in school, has stoutly opposed it, who upon 
a little explanatory conversation with the teacher, would 
entertain a very different opinion, and ever after would 
he most ready to countenance and support it. 

It seems to me a teacher may safely encourage in- 
quiry into all his movenoents in school. There is an 
old saying — in my opinion a mischievous one, — which 
enjoins it as a duty upon all, to ** tell no tales out of 
school." I see no objection to the largest liberty in this 
matter. Why may not every thing be told, if told cor- 
rectly ? Parents frequently entertain a suspicious spirit 
as to the movements of the teacher. Would not very 
much of this be done away, if it was understood there 
was no mystery about the school ? The teacher who 
would thus invite inquiry, would be very careful nevei 
10 do any thing which he would not be willing to have 
related to the parents, or even to be witnessed by them, 
[ would have no objection, if it were possible, that the 
walls of our schoolrooms, as you look inward, shoald 
be transparent, so that any individual unperceived 
might view with his own eyes the movements within 
The consciousness of such an oversight would work a 
healthy influence upon those who have too lon^ de- 
lighted in mystery. 

3. The teacher should encourage parents JrequeniLy 
to visit his school. There is almost everywhere too 
great backwardness on the part of parents to do this 
duty. The teaclier should early invite them to come 
in. It is not enough that he do this m seneral terms 



252 THE TEACHER S RELATION 

Begin with mothers. — Be honest. — No false pretences. 

He may fix the time, and arrange the party, so that those 
who would assimilate, should be brought together, ll 
will frequently be wise to begin with the mothers, where 
visitation has been unusual. They will soon biing in 
the fathers. As often as they come they will be bene- 
fited. When such visits are made, the teacher should 
not depart from his usual course of instruction on their 
account. Let all the recitations and explanations be 
attended to, all praises and reproofs, all rewards and punr 
ishments be as faithfully and punctually dispensed as if 
no person were present. In other words, let the teacher 
faithfully exhibit the school just as it is, its lights and its 
shadows, so that they may see all its workings, and 
understand all its trials as well as its encouragements. 

Such visitations under such circumstances, it is be 
lieved, would ever be highly beneficial. The teacher's 
difiiculties and cares would be better understood, and 
his efforts to be useful appreciated. The hindrances, 
thus seen to impede his progress, would be promptly 
removed, and the teacher would receive more cordial 
sympathy and support. 

But if the teacher makes such visits the occasion for 
putting a false appearance upon the school ; if he takes 
to himself unusual airs, such as make him ridiculous in 
the eyes of his pupils, and even in his own estimation ; 
if he attempts to bring before the visitors his best 
classes, and to impiess them with his own skill by 
showing off his best scholars, they will, sooner or later, 
discover his hypocrisy, and very likely despise him for 
an attempt to deceive ihem. 



TO THE Parents of his p.jpils. 253 



Be frank and true with parents, — No evasion. 



4. The teacher should he frank in all his represen- 
tations to parents concerning their children. This is a 
point upon which many teachers most lamentably err 
In this, as in every other case, " honesty is the host 
policy." If an instructor informs a parent during the 
term that his son is making rapid progress, or as the 
phrase is — " doing very w^ell," he excites in him high 
expectations ; and if at the end of the term it turns out 
otherwise, the parent with much justice may feel that 
he has been injured, and may be expected to load him 
with censure instead of praise. Let a particular an- 
swer, and a true one, always be given to the inquiry — • 
"How does my child get along?" The parent has a 
right to know, and the teacher has no right to conceal 
the truth. Sometimes teachers, fearing the loss of a 
pupil, have used some indefinite eoopression, which, how- 
ever, the doating parent is usually ready to interpret to 
his child's advantage. But sooner or later the truth will 
appear ; and when the teacher is once convicted of any 
misrepresentation in this particular, there is rarely any 
forgiveness for him. For this reason and for his own 
love of truth, for his own reputation and for the child's 
welfare, he should keep nothing back. He should tell 
the whole story plainly and frankly, — and the parent, if 
he is a gentleman, will thank him for his faithfulness to 
him ; and if he has any sense of justice, he will be ready 
to cooperate with him for his child's improvement. At 
any rate such a course will ensure the leward of a good 
ccnscience. 

The teacher, as I have before urged, should have 



254 

Study the art of coaversation,— Be modest.—" Out-door work." 

the habits and manners of a gentleman. He should 
strive also to acquire the ability to converse m an 
easy and agreeable way, so that his society shall 
never be irksome. He, in other vi^ords, should be 
a man who does not require much entprtaining 
Modesty, withal, is a great virtue in the teacher ; 
especially in his intercourse with the people of his 
district. Teachers, from their almost constant inter 
course with their pupils, are apt to think their owr 
opinions infallible ; and they sometimes commit the 
ridiculous error, of treating others wiser than them- 
selves as children in knowledge. This infirmity 
incident to the profession, should be carefully avoided , 
and while the teacher should ever endeavor to make 
his conversation instructive, he should assume no 
airs of superior learning or infallible authority. He 
should remember the truth in human nature, that 
men are best pleased to learn without being reminded 
that they are learners. 

I have known some teachers, who have sneered 
at what they have termed, the " out-door work" 
here recommended. They have thrown themselves 
upon their dignity, and have declared that when they 
had done their duty within the schoolroom, they had 
done all that could be expected, and that parents 
were hound to co-operate with them, and sustain 
them. But, after all, we must take the world as 
Nve find it ; and since parents do not always feel 
interested as they should, I hold it to be a part of 
the teacher's duty to excite their interest, and to win 



TO THE PARENTS OF HfS PUPILS. 25fc 



Its result. 



them to his aid by all the proper means in his power. 
In doing this, he will, in the most effectual way 
secure the progress of his school, and at the same 
time advance his own personal improvement 



250 TEACHER S CARE OF HIS HEALTH. 



Many invalid teachers.— Reasons. 



CHAPTER Xll 



No employment is more v/earmg to the consiiiuiion 
nan the business of teaching. So many men falter 
m this employment from ill health and so many are 
deterred from entering it, because they have witnessed 
the early decay and premature old age of those who 
k.ave before pursued it ; so many are still engaged in 
.t who almost literally "drag their slow length along," 
groaning under complicated forms of disease and loss 
of spirits, which they know not how to tolerate or 
cure, — that it has become a serious inquiry among the 
more intelligent of the profession, " Cannot something 
be known and practised on this subject, which shah 
remove the evils complained of?" Is it absolutely 
necessaiy that teachers shall be dyspeptics and inva- 
lids ? Must devotion to a calling so useful, be attended 
with a penalty so dreadful-? 

A careful survey of the facts, by more than one 
philanthropist, has led to the conclusion, that the Iosr 
of health is not a necessary attendant upon the teacher 
of the young. It is believed, indeed, that the confine 
ment from the air and sunlight, and the engrossing 



TEACHERS CARE OF HIS HEALTH. 257 



Laws of health shou.d be studied.— Effect of a change of employment. 

nature of his pursuits, have a strong tendency to bring 
on an irritability of the nervous system, a depression 
of spirits^ and a prostration of the digestive functions ; 
but it is also believed, that, by following strictly and 
systematically the known laws of health, this tendency 
may be successfully resisted, and the teacher's life 
and usefulness very much prolonged. The importance 
of the subject, and a desire to render this volume as 
useful as possible, has induced me to ask leave to 
transfer to its pages, with slight abbreviation, the very 
judicious and carefully written chapter on " Health — 
Exercise — Diet," contained in the " School and the 
Schoolmaster," from the gifted pen of George B. 
Emerson, Esq., of Boston, — one of the most enlight- 
ened educators of the present age. 



HEALTH - EXERCISE- DIET 

"The teacher should have perfect health. It may 

seem almost superfluous to dwell here upon what is 

admitted to be so essential to all persons ; but it 

becomes necessary, from the fact that nearly all those 

who engage in teaching, leave other and more active 

employments to enter upon their new calling. By this 

change, and by the substitution of a more sedentary 

life within-doors, for a life of activity abroad, the 

whole habit of the body is changed, and the health 

w^ill inevitably suffer, unless precautions be taken 

which have never before been necessary. To all 

17 



858 TEACHER S CaRE OF HIS HE aLTH. 

Lxercise.— Teacher specially needs it.— Walking.— How? 

such persons — to all, especially, who are entering 
upon the work of teaching with a view of making it 
their occupation through life, a knowledge of the laws 
of health is of the utmost importance, and to such 
this chapter is addressed. I shall speak of these 
laws briefly, undei the heads of Exercise, Air, Sleep, 
Food, and Dress. 

*' Exercise. So intimate is the connection between 
the various parts of our compound nature, that the 
faculties of the mind cannot be naturally, fully, and 
effectually exercised, without the health of the body. 
And the first law of health is, that which imposes 
the necessity of exercise. 

'* The teacher cannot be well without exercise, 
and usually a great deal of it. No other pursuit 
requires so much, — no other is so exhausting to the 
nerves ; and exercise, air, cheerfulness, and sunshine, 
are necessary to keep them in health. Most other 
pursuits give exercise of body, sunshine, and air, 
in the very performance of the duties that belong to 
them. This shuts us up from all. 

" One of the best, as one of the most natural 
modes of exercise, is walking. To give all the 
good effects of which it is susceptible, a walk must 
be taken either in pleasant company, or, if alone, 
with pleasant thoughts ; or, still better, with some 
agreeable end in view, such as gathering plants, or 
minerals, or observing other natural objects. Many 
a broken constitution has been built up, and many 
9 tluable life saved and prolonged, by such a love 



259 

President Hitchcock.— Riding on horseback.— Garden 

of some branch of natural history as has led to snatch 
every opportunity for a walk, with the interest of a 
delightful study, 

• Where living things, and things inanimate 
Do speak, at Heaven's command, to eye and ear.' 

The distinguished geologist of Massachusetts, Presi- 
dent Hitchcock, was once, when teacher of a school, 
reduced to so low a state by disease of the nerves, 
which took the ugly shape of dyspepsy, that he 
geemed to be hurrying rapidly towards the grave. 
Fortunately, he became interested in mineralogy, and 
his gave him a strong motive to spend all his 
leisure time in the open air, and to take long 
circuits in every direction. He forgot that he was 
pursuing health, in the deeper interest of science ; 
and thus, aided by some other changes in his 
habits, but not in his pursuits, he gradually recov- 
ered the perfect health which has enabled him to 
do so much for science, and for the honor of his 
native State. 

" Riding on horseback is one of the best modes 
of exercise possible for a sedentary person. It leads 
to an erect posture, throws open the chest, gives a 
fuller breathing, and exercises the muscles of the 
arms and upper part of the frame. * * * In 
weakness of the digestive organs 'ts efficacy is 
remarkable. * * * 

" A garden furnishes many excellent forms of 
exercise, and the numerous labors of a farm would 



260 TEACHER S CARE OF HIS HEALTH. 

Farm labor.— Rowing.— Sawing and splitting wood.— Warren Colbum 

give every variety, if the teacher could be in a situ 
alion to avail himself of them. This is not often 
the case. When accessible, the rake, the pitchfork 
moderately used, cannot be too highly recommended. 
A garden is v^^ithin the reach of most teachers m 
the country. It has the advantage of supplying 
exercise suited to every degree of strength, and of 
being filled virith objects gratifying to the eye and the 
taste. * * * 'p[ie flov^^er-garden and shrubbery 
commend themselves to the female teacher. To 
derive every advantage from them, ^she must be 
willing to follow the example often set by the 
ladies of England, and use the hoe, the rake, the 
pruning-hook, and the grafting knife, with her own 
hands. 

" Rowings when practicable, is a most healthful 
exercise. It gives play to every muscle and bone 
in the frame. * * * When the river is frozen, 
skating may lake the place of rowing; and it is an 
excellent substitute. * * * Driving a chaise or a 
sleigh, is a healthful exercise, if sufficient precaution 
be used to guard against the current which is always 
felt, as it is produced by the motion of the vehicle, 
even in still air. 

" Sawing and splitting wood form a valuable 
exercise, particularly important for those who have 
left an active life for the occupation of teaching. 

" Exercise should be taken in the early part of the 
day. Warren Colburn, the author of the Arithmetic, 
whose sagacity in common things was as remarkable 



26 J 

In the morning.— In open air.— In the liglit. 

as his genius for numbers, used to say, that half an 
hour's walk before breakfast did him as much good as 
an hour's after. Be an early riser. The air of morn- 
ing is more bracing and invigorating ; the sights, and 
sounds, and odors of morning are more refreshing. A 
life's experience in teaching declares the nlorning 
best. « « * 

" Exercise must always be taken, if possible, in the 
open air. Air is as essential as exercise, and often, in 
warm weather particularly, more so. They belong to- 
gether. The blood flows not as it should, it fails to 
give fresh life to the brain, if we breathe not fresh air 
enough. The spirits cannot enjoy the serene cheer- 
fulness which the teacher needs, if he breathe not fresh 
air enough. The brain cannot perform its functions ; 
thought cannot be quick, vigorous, and healthy, with- 
out ample supplies of air. Much of the right moral 
tone, of habitual kindliness and thankful reverence, de 
pends on the air of heaven. 

" Exercise must be taken in the light ; and if it may 
be, in the sunshine. Who has not felt the benignant 
influence of sunshine ? The sun's hght seems almost 
as essential to our well-being as his heat, or the air we 
breathe. It has a great effect on the nerves. A dis- 
tinguished physician of great experience. Dr. J. C. 
Warren of Boston, tells me that he almost uniformly 
finds diseases that affect the nerves e^xasperated by the 
darkness of night, and mitigated by the ''^oming on of 
day. All plants growing in the air lose their strength 
and color when excluded from light. 80 in a great 



262 TEACHER S CARE OF HIS HEALTH. 

Cleanliness. — Water. — Sleep. — Six or eight ho\ira. — Diet. 

degree does man. They lose their fine and delicate 
qualities, and the preciousness of their juices Man 
loses the glow of his spirits, and the warmth and natu 
ral play of his finer feehngs. * » » 

** Next to air and light, water is the most abundant 
element in nature. It can hardly be requisite to enjoirx 
upon the teacher the freest use of it. The most scru 
pulous cleanliness is necessary, not only on his own 
account, but that he may be able always to insist upon 
it, with authority, in his pupils. The healthy state of 
the nerves, and of the functions of digestion, depends 
in so great a degree on the cleanliness of the skin, that 
its importance can hardly be overstated. * * * 

" Sleep. No more fatal mistake in regard to hib 
constitution can be made by a young person given to 
study than that of supposing that Nature can be cheat 
ed of the sleep necessary to restore its exhausted, or 
strengthen its weakened powers. From six to eight 
hours of sleep are indispensable ; and with young per 
sons, oftener eight or more, than siX. It is essential to 
the health of the body, and still more to that of the 
mind. It acts directly on the nervous system ; and 
irritability, or what is called nervousness, \s the conse 
quence of its loss. This, bad in any person, is worse 
in the teacher than in any one else. It is an unfailing 
source of unhappiness to himself and to all his school. 
He would be unwise to subject himself to the conse- 
quences of the loss of sleep ; he has no right to sub- 
ject others. * * * 

" Diet. To no person is an attention to diet more 



2G3 

Simple food. — Extremes in Jtind and quantity, — True medium. 

important than to the teacher. For his own guidance, 
and that he may be able to give proper instructions in 
regard to this subject to his pupils, the conclusions of 
experience, or what we may consider the laws of diet, 
should be familiar to him. Some of these are the fol 
lowing : 

" 1. Food should be simple ; not of too little nor too 
great variety. The structure of the teeth, resembhng 
at once those of animals that naturally subsist on flesh, 
and of animals that take only vegetable food, and the 
character and length of the digestive organs, holding a 
medium between the average of these two classes, 
indicate that a variety of food, animal and vegetable, is 
natural to man, and in most cases probably necessary. 
The tendency m most parts of this country, from the 
great abundance of the necessaries of life, is to go to 
excess in the consumption of food, particularly of ani 
mal food. The striking evils of this course have led 
many to the opposite extreme — to renounce meats en 
tirely. Experience of the evils of this course also has 
in most places brought men back to the safe medium. 
No person needs to be more careful in regard to the 
quality and nature of his food than the teacher, as his 
exclusion from air for a great part of tlie day leaves 
him in an unfit condition to digest unwholesome food, 
while the constant use of his lungs renders his appetite 
unnaturally great, or destroys it altogether. Animal 
food seems to be necessary, but not in great quantities, 
nor oftener, usually, than once a day. * * * In 
winter, the food should be nourishing, and may be more 



264 TEACHER S CARE OF HIS HEALTH. 

Taken at intervals.— Moderate quantity.— Avoid fat. 

abundant ; in summer, less nutritious, less of animal 
origin, and in more moderate quantity. 

" 2. Food should be taken at sufficiently distant 
intervals. # * * rpj^^ operation of digestion 
is not completed, ordinarily, in less than four hours. 
Food should not be taken at shorter intervals than this, 
and intervals of five or six hours are better, as they 
leave the stomach some time to rest. 

" 3. It should be taken in moderate quantity. In 
the activity of common life, excess is less to be dreaded 
than with the sedentary habits and wearying pursuits 
of the teacher. * * * 'pj^g exhaustion of 
teaching is that of the nervous povvrer, and w^ould seem 
to call for hours of quiet, and freedom from care, with 
cheerful conversation and the refreshment of air and 
gentle exercise. Probably all the kinds of food in 
general use are wholesome when partaken of moder- 
ately. Those who, from choice or compulsion, pass 
from an active to a sedentary life, should at the same 
time restrict themselves to one half their accustomed 
quantity of food. 

"4. As a general rule/a^ should be avoided. * * 
None but a person who uses a great deal of most active 
exercise, or is much exposed to cold, can long bear its 
use with impunity. If taken, fat in a solid form is less 
injurious than liquid fat. 

" 5. Fruit may be eaten with the recollection of the 
proverb of fruit-producing countries : * It is gold in the 
morning, silver at noon, and lead at night.' Ripe fruit 
in its season is wholesome, and preferable for a person 



teacher's care of his health. 265 

Fruit.— Drink water.— At meals.— Dress. 

of sedentary habits, to more nourishing and exciting 
food. But it should be a substitute for other food, not 
an addition. A bad practice, common in some places, 
of eating fruit, especially the indigestible dried fruits, 
raisins, and nuts, in the evening, should be avoided by 
the teacher. He must have quiet and uninterrupted 
sleep, and early hours,, to be patient, gentle, and cheer- 
ful in school. 

" 6. The drink of a sedentary person should be 
chiefly water, and that in small quantities, and only at 
meals. The intelligent Arab of the desert drinks not 
durmg the heat of the day. He sees that watering a 
plant in the sunshine makes it wither ; and he feels w 
himself an analogous effect from the use of water. 
There are few lessons in regard to diet so important 
to be inculcated as this : ' Dnnk not between meals.' 

" 7. The last rule to be observed is, that no unne- 
cessary exertion of mind or body should be used imme- 
diately after a meal. If a walk must be taken it should 
rather be a leisurely stroll than a hurried walk. 

" Dress. The teacher should be no sloven. He 
should dress well, not over nicely, not extravagantly ; 
neatly, for neatness he must teach by example as well 
us by precept ; and warmly, for so many hours of the 
day shut in a warm room will make him unusually 
sensitive to cold. The golden rule of health should 
ne\ er be forgotten : * Keep the head cool, the feet 
warm and the body free.' The dress of the feet is 
particularly important Coldness or dampness of the 
feet causes headache, weakness and inflammation of 



266 

Cheerfulness. — Cause of 'ow spirits. — A liome. 

the eyes, coughs, consumptions, and sometimes fevere 
A headache is often cured by sitting with the feel long 
near a fire. Keeping the feet warm and dry alleviates 
the common affections of the eyes, repels a coming 
fever, prevents or quiets coughs, and serves as one of 
the surest safeguards against consumption. Many of 
cur most sensible physicians trace the prevalence of 
consumption in northern states, not to our climate, but 
to the almost universal custom of wearing insufficient 
clothmg, especially on the feet. 

" There is another subject intimately connected with 
health, which has been alluded to, but which ought, 
from its importance, to receive m.ore than a passing 
remark. It is cheerfulness. This should be one of the 
ends and measures of health. It ought to be consid- 
ered the natural condition of a healthy mind ; he who 
is not cheerful is not in health. If he has not some 
manifest moral cause of melancholy, there must be 
something wrong in the body, or in the action of the 
powers of the mind. 

" A common cause of low spirits in a teacher, is 
Inxiety in regard to the well-doing of his pupils. This 
i:.e must feel ; but he must endeavor, as far as possible, 
to banish it from his hours of relaxation. He must 
leave it behind him when he turns from the school- 
house door. To prevent its haunting him, he must seek 
pleasant society. He must forget it among the endear- 
ments of home, the cheerful faces and kind voices of 
friends. This is the best of all resources, and happy 
is the man wh.^ has a pleasant home, in the bosom of 



TEJiCIIER'd CARE OF HIS HEALTH. 26"? 

Sociality.— Music— A pernicious habit. 

which he may rest from labor and from care. If he 
bfi among strangers, he must endeavor to find or make 
friends to supply the place of home. He must seek 
the company of the parents and friends of his pupils, 
not only that he may not be oppressed by the loneliness 
of his situation, but that he may better understand the 
character of his pupils, and the influences to which 
they are subjected. The exercise of the social affec- 
tions is essential to the healthy condition of a well-con- 
stituted mind Often he will find good friends and 
pleasant companions among his pupils. Difference of 
years disappears before kindliness of feeling, and sym 
pathy may exist between those most remote in age, and 
pursuit, and cultivation. 

******** 

"■ A delightful, but somewhat dangerous recreation is 
offered by music ; delightful, as always soothing to the 
wearied mind ; but dangerous, because liable to take 
to itself too much time. It would be desirable if every 
instructor could himself sing or play. If he cannot, let 
him listen to soiigs or cheerful music from voice or 
instrument, or to the notes of birds. 

" * I'm sick of noise and care, and now mine ear 
Longs for some air of peace ' " 



To the foregoing excellent remarks, I could scarcely 
wish to add any thing, save to call attention to tha 
pernicious habit among both clerg/men and teachers, of 
dressing the neck too warmly wherever they go into the 



268 teacher's cake op his health. 

" Comforter."— Bronchitis. 

open air. There seems to have obtained an impression 
that those who have occasion to speak often, should be 
pecuHarly careful to guard their throats from the coldt 
Hence many are seen in a winter's day with a collar 
of fur, or a woollen "comforter," or at least a silk 
handkerchief of extraordinary dimensions, around their 
necks, and often extending above their mouths and 
nostrils- If they have occasion to step out but for 
a moment, ihey are still subject to the slavery of put 
ting on this unnatural encumbrance. 

Now I believe that this extra covering for the neck, 
instead of preventing disease of the throat and lungs^ 
is one of the most fruitful sources of such disease. 
These parts being thus thickly covered during exercise, 
become very warm, and an excessive local perspiration 
is excited ; and the dampness of the throat is much 
increased if the covering extends above the mouth and 
nose, thus prf eluding the escape of the exhalations 
from the lunges. When, therefore, this covering is 
removed, even within-doors, a very rapid evaporation 
takes place, and a severe cold is the consequence. In 
this way a cold is renewed every day, and hoarsenes.s 
of the throat and irritation of the lungs is the necessary 
result. Very soon the clergyman or teacher breaks 
down with the bronchitis, or the ' lung complaint," 
and 'is obliged for a season at least to suspend his 
Labora. This difficulty is very much enhanced, if the 
ordii.dry neck-dress is a stiff stock, which, standing oft 
from the neck, allows the ingress of the cold air as 
soon as the outer covering is removed 



teacher's care of his health. 269 

Hxpenence.— Swaddling the neck. 

Having suffered myself very severely from this cause 
and having seen hundreds of cases in others, I was de 
sirous to bear the testimony of my experience against 
the practice, — and to suggest to all w^ho have occasion 
to speak long and often that the simplest covering for 
the neck is the best. A very light cravat is all that is 
necessary. If the ordinary cravat be too thick and too 
warm, as the large-sized white cravats, so fashionable 
with the clergy, usually are, during the exercise of 
speaking, an unnatural flow of blood to the parts will 
be induced, which, after the exercise ceases, will be fol 
lowed by debility and prostration. A cold is then very 
readily taken and disease follows. I am confident, from 
my own experience and immediate observation, that this 
unnatural swaddling of the neck is one of the most 
fruitful causes of disease of the lungs and throat that 
can be mentioned. 



270 

i ^P 

Teaching a profession.— Low pay.— Its consequences. 



CHAPTER XIIT. 

teacher's relation to his profession. 

It has long been the opinion of the best minds in our 
country as well as in the most enlightened countries of 
Europe, that teaching should be a profession. It has 
been alleged, and with much justice, that this calling, 
which demands for its successful exercise the best of 
talents, the most persevering energy, and the largest 
share of self-denial,^ has never attained an appreciation 
in the public mind at all commensurate with its impor- 
tance. It has by no means received the emolument, 
either of money or honor, which strict justice would 
award in any other department to the talents and exer- 
tions required for this. This having been so long the 
condition of things, much of the best talent has been 
attracted at once to the other professions ; or if exert 
cised awhile in this, the temptation of more lucrative 
reward, or of more speedy, if not more lasting honor 
has soon diverted it from teaching, where so little of 
either can be realized, to engage in some other depart- 
ment of higher promise. So true is this, that scarcely 
a man can be found, having attained to any considerable 
eminence as a teacher, who has not been several tinres 
solicited — and perhaps strongly tempted — to engage in 



TO Hib PROFESSION. 271 

Some noble souls. — Some small men. — Two evils. 

BOine more lucrative employment ; and while there have 
always been some strong men, who have preferred 
teaching to any other calling, — men who would do horn r 
to any profession, and who, while exercising this, ha^ e 
found that highest of all rewards, the consciousness of 
being useful to others, — still it must be confessed that 
teachers have too often been of just that class which a 
knowledge of the circumstances might lead us to pre- 
dict would engage in teaching ; men of capacity too 
limited for the other professions, of a temperament too 
sluggish to engage in the labors of active employment 
of manners too rude to be tolerated except in the society 
of children (!), and sometimes of a morality so perni- 
cious as to make them the unfailing contaminators of 
the young whenever permitted — not to teach — but to 
" keep school." Thus two great evils have been mu- 
tually strengthening each other. The indifference of 
the employers to the importance of good teachers, and 
their parsimony in meting out the rewards of teaching, 
have called into the field large numbers, in the strictest 
sense, unworthy of all reward ; while this very un wor- 
thiness of the teachers has been made the excuse for 
further indifference, and if possible for greater meanness 
on the part of employers. Such has been the state of 
the case for many years past, and such is, to a great 
extent, the fact at present. 

it has been the ardent wish of many philanthropists 
that this deplorable state of affairs should be exchanged 
for a better. Hence they have urged that teaching 
should be constituted a profession ; that none should 



272 teacher's relation 

Educational nillennium.— How ushered in?— Different views. 

enter this profession but those who are thoroughly quali 
fied to discharge the high trust ; and, as a consequence 
that the people should more liberally reward and honoi 
those who are thus qualified and employed. This would 
indeed be a very desirable change ; it would be the 
educational millennium of the world. For such a period 
we all may well devoutly pray. 

But how shall this glorious age — not yet arrived — ^be 
ushered in ? By whose agency, and by what happy 
instrumentality must its approach be hastened ? Here, 
as in all great enterprises, there is some difference oi 
opinion. Some have urged that the establishment of 
normal schools and other seminaries for the better 
education of teachers, and the institution of a more vigi- 
lant system of supervision, by which our schools should 
be effectually guarded against the intrusion of the igno- 
rant and inefficient teacher, is all that*^s necessary to 
bring in this brighter day. Others have zealously urged 
that such preparation and such supervision are entirely 
superfluous and premature in the present state of the 
public mind. They say that the public must first be 
come more liberal in its appropriations for schools ; it 
must at once double the amount it has been accustomed 
to pay to teachers, and thus secure, without further 
trouble, the best talent to this vocation. To this the 
former class reply, that the public has seldom been 
known to raise its price, so long as its wants could bc- 
supplied at the present r^tes. They say that the last 
century has afforded ample opportunity for the exhibi- 
tion of this voluntary generosity of the public, and yet 



TO HIS PROFESSION. 273 

Truth between the extremes.--A mutual evil, and a mutual "^medy. 



Vfe still wait to see this anomaly in human prudence, of 
offering in advance to pay double the price for the same 
thing • for until better teachers are raised up, it must 
be an atlvance upon the present stock. So there is a 
division among them, " for some cry one thing and some 
another." 

Nov^, I believe, in this case as in most others, the 
truth lies between the extremes. As the evil com- 
plained of is a mutual one, as has already been shown 
— that is, an illiberal public has tolerated incompetent 
teachers, and the incompetence of teachers has enhanced 
in turn the parsimony of the public, — so the remedy 
must be a mutual one ; the public must be enlightened 
and teachers must be improved ; the pay of teacher? 
must be raised, but there must be also something to 
warrant the higher rate. Nor is it easy to determine 
which shall begin first. We can hardly expect the 
people to pay more till they find an article worth 
more ; nor, on the other hand, can we expect the 
teachers to incur any considerable outlay to improve 
themselves, until better encouragement shall be held 
out to them by their employers. The two must gen- 
erally proceed together. Just as in the descending 
scale, there was a mutual downward tendency, so 
here, better service will command better pay, and in 
turn, the liberality of employers will stimulate the 
employed to still higher attainments in knowledge and 
greater exertions in their labors. 

In this condition of things, the question recurs. What 
le the duty of teachers in relation to thei'- calling ^ J 

18 



274 

Teacher's duty.— The encouragements,— Self-improvement. 

answer, they are bound to do what they can to elevate 
it. Lord Bacon said, " Every man owes a debt to his 
profession." Teachers being supposed to be more intel- 
ligent than the mass of the community, may justly take 
the lead in the work of progress. They should, as a 
matter of duty, take hold of this work, — a work of sac 
rifice and self-denial as it will be, at least for some time, 
— and heartily do what they can to magnify their office 
and make it honorable. In the mean time they may do 
what they can to arouse the people to a sense of their 
duty. The more enlightened are to some extent with 
them already. The press, the pulpit, the legislative 
assemblies, all proclaim that something must be done. 
A.11 admit the faithful teacher has not been duly re- 
warded, and some are found who are willing to do some- 
thing for the improvement both of the mind and condi- 
tion of the teacher. This is encouraging ; and while 
we rejoice at the few gleams of light that betoken our 
dawning, let us inquire, for a little space, how we can 
hasten the " coming in of the perfect day." 

SECTION I. - SELF-CULTURE. 

Tlie teacher should labor diligently to improve him 
self. This is a duty incumbent on all persons, but' 
particularly upon the teacher. The very nature of his 
employment demands that his mind should be frequently 
replenished from the storehouses of knowledge. To 
interest children in their studies, how necessary is it 
that the teacher's mind should be thoroughly furnished 



TO HIS PROFESSKiN 975 

Why important.— Examide.— Temptations to self-neglect. 

with the richest thoughts of the wise ; to inspire them 
with a desire to learn, how important that he sho'.ild be 
a Hving example of the advantage and enjoyment which 
learning alone can bestow ; to strew the path of know- 
ledge with flowers, and thus make it the path of pleas- 
antness, how desirable that he should abound with the 
aptest illustrations drawn from all that is wonderful and 
curious in nature and art ; to awaken the young mind to 
a consciousness of its capacities, its wants, its respon- 
sibilities, how thoroughly should he know all the work 
ings of the human soul, — how wisely and carefully 
should he touch the springs of action, — how judiciously 
should he call to his aid the conscience and the religious 
feelings ! 

Besides, let it be remembered that in this as in other 
things, the teacher's example is of great importance. 
The young will be very likely to judge of the impor- 
tance of their own improvement by the estimate the 
teacher practically places upon his ; nor can he with 
any good grace press his pupils to exertion, while they 
see that he makes none whatever himself. 

There is great danger, in the midst of the confine- 
ment and fatigue of the schoolroom, and the pressure 
of anxiety and care out of school, that the teacher will 
yield to the temptations of his position, and fall into 
habits of indolence as to his own improvement. Com- 
pelled, as he often is, to labor at great disadvantage, 
by reason of a small and poorly furnished schoolroom ; 
confined through the day from the sunshine and the 
fresh breeze ; subjected to a constant pressure of duty 



276 TFACMERS RELATION 

Stagnation accounted for. — The teacher 1 as time. — Illustrated. 

amid untold trials of his patience, arising fronn the law 
ihat impels children to be active as well as inconsider 
ate ; required to concentrate his powers upon the double 
duty of governing and teaching at the same instant, and 
all through the session, — it is not strange, when the 
hour of release comes, that he should seek rest oi 
recreation at the nearest point, even to the neglect of 
his own mental or moral culture. I am of the opinion 
that this accounts for the fact that so many persons 
enter the work of instruction, and continue in it for a 
longer or shorter period, without making the slightest 
progress either in the art of teaching or in their own 
intellectual growth. Their first school indeed is often 
their best. This tendency or temptation, incident to 
the calling, it is the teacher's duty constantly and man 
fully to resist. He can do it. 

1. He has the time to do it. He is usually required 
to spend but six hours in the day in the schoolroom 
Suppose he add two hours more for the purpose of 
looking over his lessons and devising plans for improv- 
ing his school, — he will still have sixteen hours foi 
sleep, exercise, recreation, and improvement. Eighl 
hours are sufficient for sleep, especially for a seden- 
tary man, (some say less,) and four will provide for 
meals, exercise, and recreation. Four still remain 
for improvement. Any teacher who is systematic 
and economical in ,he use of his time, can reserve 
for the purpose of his own improvement four houn 
in every twenty four^ and this without the slightesi 



TO HIS PROFESSION. 2T7 



Punctuality in all things.— Immediate reward.— Proof. 



detriment to his school duties, or to his health. To be 
sure he must lead a regular life. He must have a 
plan, and systematically follow it. He mus( be jpunc- 
tual, at his school, at his meals, at his exercise or 
recreation, at his hour of retiring and rising, and at his 
studies. Nor should he ordinarily devote more time 
than I have mentioned directly to his school. He 
should labor with his whole soul while he does work, 
and he will the more heartily do this, if he has had 
time to think of something else during the season of 
respite from labor. It is a great mistake that teachers 
make when they think they shall be more successful by 
devoting all their thoughts to their schools. Very soon 
the school comes to occupy their sleeping as well as 
waking hours, and troublesome dreams disturb the 
repose of night. Such men must soon wear out. 

But according to the laws of our nature, by a change 
of occupation, the jaded faculties find rest. By taking 
up some new subject of inquiry, the intellect is relieved 
from the sense of fatigue which before oppressed it, the 
thoughts play freely again, the animation returns, the 
eve kindles, and the mind expands, 

2. Such labor finds immediate reward. The con- 
sciousness of growth is no small thing towards encour- 
aging the teacher. He feels that he is no longei 
violating his nature by allowing himself to stagnate 
Then he will find every day that he can apply the 
newly-acquired truth to the illustration of some princi- 
ple he is attempting to teach. He has encouraging and 
immediate poo/ that he is a better teacher and that lie 



278 

Hotv to improve.— A course of professional reading.— The bookB 

lias made himself so by timely exertion. He is thus 
again stimulated to rise above those temptations before 
described,— this immediate availability of his acquire- 
ments being vouchsafed to the teacher, as it is not to 
Host men, in order to prompt him to stem the current 
which resists his progress. 

And now, if I have shown that a teacher is bound to 
improve himself, both from a regard to his own well 
being and the influence of his example upon others,- 
and if I have also shown that he can improve himself, 
[may be indulged in making a few suggestions as to 
the manner of his doing it. 

1 . He should have a course of professional reading 
It will do much for his improvement to read the works 
of those who have written on the subject of education 
and the art of teaching. If possible he should collect 
and possess a small educational library. It will be of 
great service to him to be able to read more than once 
such suggestions as are abundantly contained in the 
* Teacher's Manual," by Palmer ; the " School and 
Schoolmaster," by Potter and Emerson ; the '* Teach- 
er," by Abbott ; the " Teacher Taught," by Davis ; 
'* Lectures on Schoolkeeping," by Hall ; " The Com- 
mon School Journal," " Secretary's Reports," and 
*' Lectures," by Horace Mann ; the " Connecticut 
Common School Journal," and " Journal of the Rhode 
Island Institute," by H. Barnard ; the ' Districc Schooi 
Journal" of New York, by Francis Dwight and others ; 
the " Lectures of the American Institute of Instruc- 
tion ;" the " Schoolmaster's Friend," by T Dwight 



TO HIS PROFESSION. 279 

A course of general study. — One thing at a time. 

the " District School," by J. Orville Taylor ; the " Teach- 
er's Advocate," by Cooper ; the writings, if they can 
be obtained, of Wyse, of Cousin, of Lalor, of Lord 
Brougham on Education, together with such other works 
as are known to contain sound and practical views. It 
is not to be expected that every teacher will possess all 
these, or that he will read them all in a single term. But 
it is well to hold converse with other minds, and to have 
it in our power to review their best thoughts whenever 
our own need refreshing. I have given a somewhat ex- 
tended list of books because the inquiry is now so often 
made by teachers what they shall read.* 

2. By pursuing systematically a course of general 
study. Many teachers who have a desire to improve 
themselves, still fritter away their time upon little mis- 
cellaneous matters, without making real progress. It 
is well in this' to have a plan. Let some one study, — 
it may be geology, or astronomy, or chemistry, or 
botany, or the pure mathematics, — let some one study 
receive constant attention till no mean attainments have 
been made in it. By taking one thing at a time and 
diligently pursuing it, at the end of a term the teacher 
feels that he has something to sho\v for his labor, — and 
he is, by the advance already made, prepared to take 
the next and more difficult step. In a course of years 
while a neighbor who began teaching at the same time, 
has been stagnating, or even retrogi'ading for the want 
of a plan and a purpose, a diligent man, by system and 
perseverance, may make himself at least equal to many 

* Since this -work was -written, a "Teacher's Library," of twelve volumes, bar 
Deen published by A S. Barnes & Co. 



280 TEACHER S RELATION 



A journal or common-place book.— Why ?— A demonstration. 

vvfio have enjoyed better advantages in early life, and 
at the same time have the superadded enjoyment of 
feeling that he has been his ow^n teacher. 

3 Keep a journal or common-place hook. The habit 
of composing daily is very valuable to the teacher. In 
this book he may record whatever plans he has devised 
with their results in practice. He may enter remarka 
ble cases of discipline, — in short, any thing which in 
the course of his practice he finds interesting. Those 
valuable suggestions which he receives from others, oi 
hints that he may derive from books, may be epito 
mized here, and thus be treasured up for future refer 
ence. Sometimes one's best thoughts fade from hia 
own mind, and he has no power to recall them. Such 
a book would preserve them, and would moreover 
show the character of one's thoughts at any particjilai 
period, and the progress of thought, from one period 
to another, better than any other means.* 

To these means of self-culture I would add the prac 
tice of carefully reading and writing on chosen subjects, 
more fully described m the chapter on Habits of the 
Teacher. 

By all these means and such others as may come 
within his reach, if a teacher succeeds in his attempts 
at progress, he does much for his profession. The very 
fact that he has given practical demonstration that a 
man may teach and still improte , that the temptdtioiis 



* for farther remarks on the Common-pla;e Bool f«e chap. vii. p. lOR 
Note. 



TO HIS PROFESSIOa^ 281 



Epconragement to others.— Mutual aid.— Selfishness. 



of his profession may be resisted and overcome ; that 
the hfe of the pedagogue which has required him tc 
keep the company of small minds, and to be occupied 
with minute objects, has never prevented his holding 
communion with the greatest men our earth has known, 
nor circumscribed in the least the sphere of his grasp- 
ing research, — I say the very fact that he has thus 
shown what a man may do under such cirr^um 
stances, may do much to encourage others to like 
effort. 

But there are other and direct duties which he owes 
to his profession, which I proceed to consider under 
the head of 

SECTION II.-MUTUAL AID. 

Every teacher should be willing to impart as well as 
to receive good. No one, whatever may be his per 
sonal exertions, can monopolize all the wisdom of the 
world. The French have a proverb that " Everybody 
is wiser than anybody." Acting on this principle, the 
teacher should be willing to bring his attainments into 
the common stock, and to diffuse around him as far as 
he is able the light he possesses. I have no language 
with which to express my abhorrence of that selfish- 
ness, which prompts a man, after attaining to some 
eminence as a teacher by the free use of all the means 
withm his reach, self-complacently to stand aloof from 
his fellow teachers, as if he would say, " Brethren, 
help yourselves — I have no need of you, and you have 
no claim upon me. I have toiled bard for my emi- 



282 TEACHERS RELATION 



An exclusive spirit— without excuse.— Mutual visitat^-^n. 

nence, and the secret is with me. I will enjoy it alone 
When you have toiled as long, you may be as wise. 
Brethren, help yourselves." Such a spirit would per- 
haps be tolerated by the world in an avaricious nnan, 
who had labored to treasure up the shining dust of earth. 
But no man may innocently monopolize knowledge. 
The light of the sun is shed in golden refulgence upon 
every man, and no one if he would, may separate a 
portion for his own exclusive use, by closing his shut 
ters about him, — for that moment his hght becomes 
darkness. It is thus with the light of knowledge. 
Like the air we breathe, or like the rain from heaven. 
it should be free to all. The man who would lock up 
the treasures of learning from the gaze of the whole 
world, whether in the tomes of some dusty library, as 
of old it was done, or in the recesses of his narrower 
soul, IS unworthy of the name of man ; he certainly 
has not the spirit of the teacher. 

An exclusive spirit may be borne where meaner 
things, as houses, and lands, and gold, are at stake ; 
but in education and religion — light and love, — where 
giving doth not impoverish nor withholding make rich, 
there is not even the shadow of an excuse for it. The 
man who is exclusive in these things, would be so, I 
i«ar, in heaven. 

How can teachers encourage each other ? 

1 By mutual visitation. Very much may be done 
by social intercourse. Two teachers can scarcely 
comerse together an hour without benefiting each 
other. The advantages of intercourse with friends, 



TO HIS PROFESSION. 2H3 



Dr. Young.— Even t ne's faults may instruct us. 



9S delineated by Dr. Young, may not be denied lo 
t-^achers. 

" Hast thou no friend to set thy mind abroach ? 
Good sense will stagnate. Thoughts shut up want air, 
And spoil like bales unopened to the sun 
?Iad thought been all, sweet speech had been denied. 

Thought, too, delivered, is the more possessed : 
Teaching, we learn ; and giving, we retain 
The births of intellect ; when dumb, forgot 
Speech ventilates our intellectual fire ; 
Speech burnishes our mental magazine, 
Brightens for ornament, and whets for use." 

But not only should teachers visit one another, — it is 
profitable also for them to visit each other's schools. I 
have never spent an hour in the school of another with 
out gaining some instruction. Sometimes a new^ way 
of illustrating a difficult point, sometimes an exhibition 
of tact in managing a difficult case in discipline, some 
times an improved method of keeping up the interest 
in a class, vi^ould suggest the means of making my own 
labors the more successful. And even should one's 
neighbor be a bad teacher, one may sometimes learn 
as much from witnessing glaring defects as great ex- 
cellencies. Some of the most profitable lessons I have 
ever received, have been drawn from the deficiencies 
of a fellow teacher. We seldom " see ourselves as 
others see us ;" and we are often insensible of our 
own faults till we have seen them strikingly exhibited 
by another ; and then by a comparison we correct our 
own. 

Besides, by a visitation of a friend's school we may 



2S4 TEACHER S KELATION 

Stated teachers' meetings.— Their use.— Elmploy the pen. 

not only receive good, but we may impart it. If there 
is mutual confidence, a few words may aid him to cor 
rect his faults, if he has any, — faults which but for 
such suggestion might grow into confirmed habits, to 
his permanent injury. 

So important is this mutual visitation among teach 
ers as a means of improvement, that I doubt not em 
ployers would find it for their interest to encourage it 
by allowing the teachers to set apart an occasional half 
day for this purpose. 

Tt would, moreover, be very useful for the teachers 
of a town to hold stated meetings, as often as once a 
month, for the purpose of mutual improvement. It 
would cultivate a fellow-feeling among them, and it 
would afford them an opportunity to exchange thoughts 
on most of the difficulties which they meet in their 
schools, and the best methods of surmounting them. 
At these meetings, a mutual exchange of books on the 
subject of teaching, would extend the facilities of each 
for improving his own mind and his methods of in 
slruction and government. 

2. By the use of the pen. Every teacher should be 
a ready writer. Nearly every teacher could gain ac- 
cess to the columns of some paper, through which he 
could impart the results of his experience, or of his 
reflection. Such a course would benefit him specially, 
and at the same time it would awaken other minds to 
thought and action. In this way the attention, not only 
of teachers but parents, would be ca'.led to the great 
work of education. One mind in this way might move 



TO HIS mOFESSlON. 2S5 

Teachers' Associations.— Institutes.— Their utility.— Shc<uld be practical. 

a thousand. If a teacher does not feel <|ualified to 
instruct^ let him inquire^ and thus call out the wisdom 
of others. This could be done in nearly every village. 
The press is almost always ready to promote the cause 
of education. By the use of it, teachers may profita- 
bly discuss all the great questions pertaining to their 
duly, and at the same time enlighten the community in 
which they live. This is an instrumentality as yet too 
.little employed. 

3. By Teachers* Associations or Institutes. These 
are peculiarly adapted to the diffusion of the best 
plans of instruction. Rightly conducted, they can 
never fail of being useful. Every man who lectures 
or teaches, is profited by the preparation. If he is 
a man of wisdom and experience, he will benefit his 
hearers. If otherwise, the discussion, which should 
ever follow a lecture, will expose its fallacies. It has 
often happened in such associations, that an honest 
and experienced man has, in a half-hour, given to 
the younger portion of the members, lessons of 
wisdom which it would take them years to learn by 
iheir own observation. Errors in principle and prac- 
tice have been exposed, into which many a young 
teacher was unconsciously falling, and hints have 
been given to the quicker minds, by which their own 
modes of teaching and governing have been speedily 
improved. 

As far as possible, such meetings should bo made 
strictly practical. The older teachers, who usually 
have the most to do with the management of them, 



2sr> 

A penersion —Talk.— Encouragement by meeting friends. 

shoulil bear in mind tliat they are mainly designed 
10 diffuse practical ideas of teaching, particularly 
among the ycunger members. Too often, these 
meetings are made the arena of debate upon questions 
of very little practical importance to the teacher. I 
have seen a body of men spend an entire session 
of a half-day, in discussing a series of overwrought 
resolutions, upon some topic scarcely at all connected 
with any duty of the teacher, frequently leaving the 
main question to wrangle about some point of order, 
or of " parliamentary usage ;" and after the resolutions 
were passed or rejected, as the case might be, — (and 
It was of very little consequence whether " carried" or 
"lost,") — the ladies and younger teachers who had 
borne no part in the talk, would find it difficult to tell 
" wherefore they had come together." Nothing had 
been said or done by which they could be aided in 
their schools. Lecturers, too, have frequently mis 
taken their aim. Ambitious to shine out as literary 
men, they have given orations instead of practical 
lessons. In these meetings, it seems to me, nothing 
ostentatious, nothing far-fetched is what we need ; 
but rather the modes and experience of practical 
men. We need to come down to the schoolroom, 
to the every-day business of the teacher, ^nd thus 
prepare him to do his work more successfully on his 
return to his duties. 

Another, and no inconsiderable advantage of such 
associations, is, that the teacher gains encouragement 
and strength, by being thus brought in contact w'th 



ro ins PKuFEssioN. 287 



Illustration. — A professional feeling. — Light breaks in. 

oihers engaged in the same pursuit. Toiling on alone, 
in his isolated district, surrounded by obstacles and 
discouragements, weighed down by care, and fmding 
none to sympathiz? with him, he is almost ready to 
faint in his course, and perhaps to abandon his calling. 
At this crisis, he reads the notice for the teachers' 
meeting, and he resolves to go up once more to the 
gathering of his friends. From the various parts of 
the county, from the populous and crowded city, and 
from the byways of the country-towns, a goodly 
number collect together and greet each other. Smile 
answers to smile, the blood courses more freely through 
the veins, the spirits, long depressed perhaps, partake 
of the general glow, and each feels that he is not 
toiling alone. He feels that a noble brotherhood of 
kindred spirits are laboring in the same field, under 
trials and discouragements similar to those which have 
oppressed him. He derives new strength from the 
sympathy of friends. 

A professional feeling is engendered, which will 
accompany him to his schoolroom ; and when he 
goes home, it is with renewed vigor and fresh aspirings 
to be a better man, and a better teacher. He labors 
with more confidence in himself; and, enlightened 
by what he has seen and heard, he is far more 
successful than before. His pupils, too, respond to 
the new life they see enkindling in him, and go to 
their work more cheerfully. One difficulty aft^r 
another vanishes, and he begins to think teaching, 
after all is not the worst employment in the world. 



288 teacher's relation 



Cautions. — Be honest.— Danger of over-coloring. 

but that it has some flowers as well as thorns ; and 
he concludes to remain in the profession. This has 
been the history of at least one man. Long may 
many others have occasion to exercise gratitude like 
his, for tlie enjoyment of similar privileges.* 



I ought not to leave this subject without a word 
or two of caution. 

1. Be honest. In all your intercourse with your 
fellow^teachers, be careful to use the words of " truth 
and soberness." in. stating your experience, never 
allow your fancy to embellish your facts. Of this 
there is great danger. The young are sometimes 
tempted to tell a good story ; but a deviation from 
the truth — always perilous, and always wrong — may 
be peculiarly disastrous here. Experience overstated, 
may egregiously mislead the unwary inquirer after 
truth. Never over-color the picture ; it is better to err 
on the other side. 

So, likewise, in exhibiting your school to fellow 



* The Essex County Teachers' Association, in Massachusetts, was 
first organized in 1829, and for seventeen years its meetings, of two daye 
each, liave been held semi-annually, and usually very fully attended. 
This association has wrought an untold amount of usefulness, by i'^ 
improvement and encouragement of the teachers of that county,— and 
at this time it continues to diffuse its wonted blessings. A more intelligent 
and devoted body of teachers cannot be found in the United States, than 
tliose who now compose that association. Long may it continue to irra 
diate its glorious light ; and long may its devoted members eiyoy tho reU- 
merited confidence of tlie contmjunity in which they labor. 



TO HIS PROFESSION. 289 



Every <lay practice.—" Nothing extraordinary.''''— kxoiA. imitation. 

teachers, be strictly honest. They come to learn 
from your every-day practice, and not from a coun- 
terfeit ; and whenever you dress your school in a 
showy garb, to win the applause of a fellow-teacher, 
you do him a great injustice. You may not please 
your friend so much by your ordinary mode, as by 
something assumed for the occasion ; but you may 
profit him far more ; and in the end, you lose nothing 
by pursuing the line of duty. 

I well remember, that a somewhat distinguished 
teacher once visited my own school, who, on going 
away, expressed himself somewhat disappointed, be- 
cause he did not see any thing " extraordinary^^'' as 
he said, in my mode of procedure. The truth was, 
nothing extraordinary was attempted. He saw what 
I wished to show him, an ordinary day's work ; for 
1 had before that time imbibed the opinion, that a 
m-in's reputation will be more firmly estabhshed, by 
sustaining every day a fair mediocrity, than it ever can 
be by an attempt to outdo himself on a few special 
occasions. As the value of biographical writing is 
often very much diminished, because the writer ha? 
endeavored to paint his character too perfect to be 
human, — sc these visitations will lose their utility 
whenever, by substituting hollow pretension for sober 
reality, the teacher endeavors to exhibit such a school 
as he does not daily keep. 

2. Avoid servile imitation of any model. It is 
often remarked, that every man's plan is the best 
for him ; and that many besides David can nevcT 

19 



21^0 TEACHER S RELATION 

Adapt rather than adopt another's plans.— Avoiil self-sufficiency. 

fight in Saul's armor. This is generally true. All 
experience, then, should be considered, in connection 
with the circumstances under which it was tried, 
never forgetting the character and genius of the 
person who relates it. What might succeed in his 
hand, may fail in yours ; particularly, as you will 
lack the interest of an origmal mventor. 

The true secret lies in listening to the views of all, 
and tlien in making a judicious combination to meet 
your own character, and )uur own circumstances 
It is often bettei to adjust and adapt the plan of 
another, than to adopt it. Servile imitation precludes 
thought in the teacher, and reduces him to a mere 
machine. The most successful teachers I have ever 
known, were those who would listen attenti\'ely to 
the plans and experience of others, and then strike 
out a course for themselves, attempting that, and that 
only, which they were confident they could success 
fully execute. 

3. Avoid undue self sufficiency. Men usually cease 
to learn when they think they are wise enough. The 
teacher is in danger of falling into this error. Moving 
for the most part among children, where his decisions 
are seldom questioned, he is very apt to attach undue 
importance to his own opinions. Such a man meets 
his fellows with much self-complacency, and is but 
poorly prepared to be profiteQ by the views of 
otliers. "Bui the teacher should never cease to be 
teachable. There are very few men too old, or too 
niec to learn something ; and they are the wisest 



TO HIS PROFESSION. 291 



Babes and Sucklings. 



if not the oldest, who are willing to welcome a real 
improve mentj even though it should come from com- 
parative " babes and sucklings/' out of whose mouths 
God has sometiines perfected praise. 



292 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

Miscellaneous hints.— Things to be avoided.— Prejudice. 



CHAPTER XIV 

MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 

On looking over the notes which I have ai vanous 
times made of mv own experience and observation, 
during twenty years of practical teaching, I find there 
are several thoughts wiiich may be of some service to 
the young teacher, and which have not been introduced 
under any of the general topics of this volume. I have 
therefore thought best to introduce a special chapter, 
with the above title, where I might lawfully bring 
together, without much regard to method, such varied 
nints as may convey to some reader a useful lesson. 
Some of these hints will refer to faults which should 
ne carefully avoided^ while others will point out some 
duties to be performed. 

SECTION I.-TH1NGS TO BE AVOIDED. 

I. Guard against prejudice on ent?ying a school. 
li is not always safe to rely upon first impressions as 
Xj character. At the opening of a school, perhaps fifty 
individuals for the first time are brought before the 
teacher. Some of them are from humble life, and 
perhaps bear upon them the marks of parental neglect 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 293 

Danger of prejudice.— Its ii\justice.— Why ? 

Their persons and their clothing may present nothing 
to attract and gratify the eye of a stranger. Little 
accustomed to society, they exhibit an awkward bash- 
fulness, or an impertinent forwardness, m their manner. 
Contrasted with these, others appear who have been 
the children of indulgence, and who have seen much 
more of the world. A more expensive garb attracts 
the eye ; a more easy and familiar address, conforming 
to the artificial modes of society, is very likely to 
win the heart. The teacher is very prone to find his 
feelings committed in favor of the latter class, and 
against the former. But this is all wrong. A judgment 
thus hastily formed is extremely hazardous, — as a few 
days' acquafhtance will usually show. The child of 
blunt or shy demeanor often has the truest heart, — a 
heart whose sentiments go out by the shortest course, 
— a heart that has never learned the artificial forms of 
the world, because it has never felt the need of them 
And how unjust to the child is a prejudice founded 
on the circumstance of dress ! Must the inability or 
neglect of his parent be doubly visited on him ? Is it 
not enough that he daily feels the inward mortification 
of a contrast with his more favored school-fellows 1 
Must he be painfully reminded of it by discovering 
that his teacher repels hina on that account, and be- 
stows his kindhest smiles upon those who are " the 
brightest and best clad" ? 

And yet such unjust prejudice is common ; WTong 
and unfeeling as it is, it is too common. A fine 
drcbs and a clean face, and a graceful manner^ T know 



294 MISCELLANEOUS suggestio:n'& 



Pupils not to direct their studies. — This the, teacher's province 

are attractive ; but the teacher has to do with the mind 
and the heart ; — and he should never be deterred by 
any thing exterior, from making a dihgent and patient 
search for good quahties which have their home behind 
the surface, — and he should ever possess a smile as 
cordial and a tone as parental for the neglected child 
of poverty and ignorance, as for the more favored son 
of wealth and ease 

2. Do not allow your pupils to direct their own 
studies. Whatever their age may be, they are seldom 
capable of doing this. It is the aim of the young to 
get over a long course of study. They are usually 
pleased to belong to higher classes before they have 
mastered the branches taught in the lower. If children 
are suffered to direct their own studies, they usually 
make themselves very poor scholars. This is the bane 
of many of our select schools and academies, where 
the teacher yields this right in order to secure pupils 
and a salary. But no one, not even the parent, is as 
competent as the teacher ought to be, to direct in this 
matter. He has the best opportunity daily to fathom 
the pupil's attainments, and to understand his defi 
ciencies. He may claim the right to direct. In case 
the pupil withstands his decision, the teacher should 
appeal to the parent, and endeavor there to sustain his 
point, a thing generally vvithin his power, if indeed he is 
right. If liie parent too is obstinate, and firmly insists 
upon the wrong course, the teacher may perhaps sub 
mit, though he cannot submit without the consciousness 
that his province has been invaded. 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 295 

A mistake. — An egregious evil in all schools. — Illustrated. 

It is too frequently the case that the teachei at th« 
first yields aK this ground voluntarily, by asking the 
children what they wish to study. When he has once 
made them a party m this question, he need not wonder 
if they claim to be heard. This he should not do. 
He should first be sure that he is qtalified to direct 
aright, and then, as a matter of course, proceed to do 
it, just as the physician would prescribe for the physical 
malady of such a child. The latter is not more the 
rightful duty of the physician, than the former is of the 
school teacher. Neither has the power to enforce his 
prescription against the parents' consent, — but that 
consent may be taken for granted by both, till informed 
that it is withheld. 

I may here remark that in all my intercourse with 
the young, whether in the common or the higher school, 
I have found no greater evil than that of proceeding 
to the more difficult branches before the elementary 
studies have been mastered. It is no uncommon thing 
to find those who have " attended" to the higher mathe- 
matics — algebra, geometry, and the like — whose reading 
and writing are wretched in the extreme, and whose 
spelling is absolutely intolerable ! They have been 
pursuing quadratics, but are unable to explain why 
they " carry one for every ten ;" they have wandered 
among the stars iw search of other worlds, by the 
science of astronomy, without knowing the most sim- 
ple points in the geography of our own; they have 
studied logarithms and infinite series, but cannot be 
safely trusted to add a colunm of figures, or to com 



296 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

The teacher — the remedy. — Do not attempt too many things. 

pute the simple interest upon a common note ! In 
short, they have studied every thing, except what is 
most useful to be known in practical life, and have 
really learned — nothing ! 

Now if this evil — gnevouji and extensive as it is at 
present — is destined ever to be abated, it is to be 
accomplished by the instrumentality of the teacher, 
acting, in his appropiate sphere, in the capacity of a 
director as to the course of study for the young. He 
must not be a man who can merely teach, but one who 
understands the high import of a true education, and 
knows how to prescribe the order of its progress ; one, 
in short, who will never attempt to erect a showy 
superstructure upon an insufficient foundation. 

3. Do not attempt to teach too many things. There 
is a tendency at present to introduce too many things 
into all our schools. Nothing is more common than to 
hear our public lecturers declare, as they become a 
little enthusiastic in any given department, that " this 
branch should at once be made a study in our common 
schools." This is heard of almost the whole round 
of the natural sciences. But it seems to me to be 
dictated by over-wrought enthusiasm. Every thing 
cannot he well taught in our schools ; nor should too 
much be attempted. It is the province of our schools 
— particularly our common schools — to afford thorough 
instruction in a few things, and to awaken a desirt 
for more extended attainment. The instruction given 
should, as far as possible, be complete in itself, — while 
it should afford the means of making %rther advance- 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 297 

Make no ambiguouR mark upon mind.—" Mind your business."— Excuses 

ment ; but that instruction which being merely super 
ficial, neither itself informs the mind nor imparts the 
desire and the means of future self-improvement, la 
worse than useless ; it is positively injurious. A few 
branches thoroughly possessed, are worth more than a 
thousand merely glanced at,— and the idea of changing 
our common schools to universities, where our children, 
before they pass from the years of their babyhood, are 
to grasp the whole range of the sciences, is one of the 
most preposterous that has grown up even in this age 
of follies. The teacher, then, should not undertake too 
much ; he should be sure that he can accomplish what 
he undertakes. The mai'k he makes upon the young 
should he no uncertain sign. 

4. Never attend to extraneous business in school 
hours. This is a common fault. Many teachers neg 
lect tneir duties in school to write letters, or transact 
such other business as should be done at home. This 
is always wrong. There is no time for it in any school ; 
for a diligent teacher can always find full employment 
even with a small number. Besides, he has engaged 
to devote himself to the school ; and any departure from 
this is a violation of his contract. The children will so 
view it, and thus lose much of their respect for the 
teacher. Moreover, if they see him neglect his business 
for some other, they will be very likely to neglect theirs, 
and thus disorder will be introduced. I hold that the 
teacher is bound to devote every moment of school hours 
to active labor for the school. 

5. Avoid ma\ing excuses to visitors for the defects 



298 MISCELLANE0C5 SUGGESTIONS. 



Dr Franklin's remark.— An illustration. 



of your school. Franklin, I think, said that " a man 
who is good for making excuses is good for nothing 
else." I have often thought of thivS as I have vis'ted 
the schools of persons given to this failing. It is 
sometimes quite amusing to hear such a teacher keep 
up a sort of running apology for the various pupils 
A class is called to read. The teacher remarks, " This 
class have but just commenced reading in this book." 
Stephen finishes the first paragraph, and the teachei 
adds, " Stephen has not attended school very regularly 
lately." William reads the second. " This boy," says 
the teacher, " wras very backv^^ard when I came here — 
he has but just joined this class." Charles executes the 
third. " That boy has an impediment in his speech." 
Reuben follows. " It is almost impossible to make a 
good reader of Reuben ; he never seems to pay the 
least attention. I have bestowed unwearied pains 
upon him." Mary takes her turn. " This girl has losi 
her book, and her father refuses to buy her another." 
Mary here blushes to the eyes, — for though she could 
bear his reproof, she still has some sense of family 
pride ; she bursts into tears, while Martha reads the 
next paragraph. " I have tried all along," says the 
teacher, " to make this girl raise her voice, but still she 
will almost stifle her words." Martha looks dejected, 
and the next in order makes an attempt. 

Now the teacher in all this has no malicious design 
to wound the feelings of every child in the class, — 
and yet he as effectually accomphshes that resull 
as if he had premeditated it. Every scholar is inter 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 299 



Pity excite<i.— ' When / came Aere."— Meauuess.— " How old are you? 

ested to read as well as possible in the presence of 
strangers ; every one makes the effort to do so ; yet 
every one is practically pronounced to have failed. 
The visitors pity the poor pupils for the pain they are 
made thus needlessly to suffer, and they pity also the 
weakness of the poor teacher^ whose love of approba- 
tion has so blinded his own perception that he is regard- 
less of the feelings of others, and thinks of nothing but 
his own. 

This over-anxiety for the good opiriion of others 
shows itself in a still less amiable light, when the 
teacher frequently makes unfavorable allusions to his 
predecessor. " When / came here^"* says the teacher 
significantly, *' I found them all poor readers." Or, if 
a little disorder occurs in school, he takes care to 
add, " \ found the school in perfect confusion," — or, 
'' the former teacher, as near as I can learn, used to 
allow the children to talk and phy as much as they 
pleased." Now, whatever view we take of such a 
course, it is impossible to pronounce it any thing better 
than despicable meanness. For if the charge is true, it 
s by no means magnanimous to publish the faults of 
another ; and if it is untrue in whole or in part, as most 
likely it is, none but a contemptible person would mag- 
»jify another's failings to mitigate his own. 

There is still another way in which this love of per 
sonal applause exhibits itself. I have seen teachers 
call upon their brightest scholars to recite, and then 
ask them to tell their age, in order to remind the 
visitor that tliey were very young to do so well ; and 



300 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESl ONS 

Such arts recoil. — Conipeirisons are odious. — ^Tenderness to a dull child. 

then insinuate that their older pupils could of course 
do much better. 

All these arts, however, recoil upon the teacher whu 
uses them. A visitor of any discernment sees through 
them at once, and immediately suspects the teacher of 
conscious incompetency or wilful deception. The 
pupils lose their respect for a man whon^ they all per 
ceive to be acting a dishonorable part. I repeat, then, 
never atte?npt to cover the defects of your schools by 
making ridiculous excuses. 

6. Never compare one child with another. It is a 
poor way of stimulating a dull pupil to compare him 
with a better scholar. It is the direct way to engender 
hatred in the mind of the one, and the most consum- 
mate self-complacency in the other. Not one child in 
a thousand can be publicly held up to the school as a 
pattern of excellence, without becoming excessively 
vain ; at the same time, all the other scholars will be 
more or less excited to envy. Such a course is always 
unsafe ; almost always injurious. 

7. Avoid wounding the sensibilities of a dull child. 
There will always h& those in every school who are 
slow to comprehend. After their classmates have 
grasped an idea during the teacher's explanation, they 
still have the vacant stare, the unintellige it expression. 
This may be so after a second or a third explanation. 
The teacher is now strongly tempted to indulge in 
expressions of impatience, if not of opprobrium. This 
temptation he should resist. Such cliildren are to be 
pitied for their dullness, but never to be censured foi 



MISCELL.iNEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 301 



Never get out of temi>er with parents.-- Why ?~ An incident. 

It. It is an unfeeling thing to sting the soul that is 
already benighted. He should cheer and encourage 
such a slow mind to greater effort, by the sunshine of 
kind looks, and the warm breath of sympathy, rather 
than freeze up the feeble current of vivacity which 
yet remains there by a forbidding frown or a blast of 
reproach. A dull child is almost always affectionate ; 
and it is through the medium of kindness and patience 
that such a one is most effectually stimulated. 

8. Never lose your patience when parents unreason 
ably interfere with your plans. It must be expected 
that some of the parents will wish to dictate to the 
teacher what course he shall pursue, at least in rela- 
tion to their own children. This will sometimes bring 
them to the schoolroom, perhaps in a tone of complaint, 
to set the teacher right. Whenever a parent thus steps 
beyond the bounds of propriety, the teacher should 
never lose his self-possession. He should always speak 
the language of courtesy, in frankness, but in firmness. 
He should reason with the parent, and if possible con 
vince him, — but he should never insult or abuse him 
It may be well to propose to see him at his own house 
m order to talk over the matter more at his leisure. I 
recollect once a parent sent a hasty refusal to purchase 
a necessary book for his son, — a refusal clothed in no 
very respectful' language. I gave the lad a courteous 
note directed to his father, in which I intimated my 
desire to have an interview with him at his house at 
such time as he might appoint In half an hour the 
boy came bounding back with the desired book inforn> 



302 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 



The study of the Bible. — Rice no hobbies in teaching. 

mg me that his father said, " he guessed he might as 
well get the book, and done with it." My intercourse 
with that parent was ever afterwards of the most 
pleasant kind. A supercilious parent can never gain 
an advantage over a teacher, unless he can first provoke 
him to impatience or anger. As long as the teacher is 
perfectly self-possessed he is impregnable. 

9. Never make the study of the Bible a punishment, 
I have known a teacher to assign sundry passages of 
the Bible, condemnatory of a particular sin, to be 
committed to memory as a punishment. I have also 
known the idle scholar to be detained after school to 
study passages of scripture, because he had failed to 
learn his other lessons in due time. I believe this 
to be bad policy, as w^ell as doubtful religion. The 
lessons that a child thus learns, are always connected 
in his mind with unpleasant associations. His heart 
is not made better by truths thus learned. The Bible 
mdeed should be studied by the young, but they should 
be attracted to it by the spirit of }ove, rather than 
driven to it by the spirit of vindictiveness. They who 
suppose that children can be made to love the Bible by 
being thus driven to the study of it, have sadly mis- 
taken the human heart. 

10. Ride no ^^ hobbies^'' in teaching Almost every 
man, in whatever vocation, has some hobby, some " one 
idea,''^ which he pushes forward on all occasions, no 
matter what may be the consequences. It is not 
strang(? that it is often thus with the teacher. If the 
teacher has any independence of irind, any originality, 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 303 

A discovery becomes a hobby.— Oral instruction. 

be will at some period in h s life naturally incline to 
try some experiments in teaching. Partly on account 
of the novelty of the plan, and partly on account of the 
teacher's interest in the success of his own measure, he 
finds it works well in the class where it was first tried ; 
and he rejoices that he has made a discovery. Teach 
ing now possesses a new interest for him, and he very 
likely becomes enthusiastic. He applies his new 
measure to other classes, and loudly recommends it to 
other teachers. For a time it succeeds, and it becomes 
his hobby. Whenever a stranger visits his school, he 
shows off his new measure. Whenever he attends a 
teachers' meeting, he describes it, and perhaps presents 
H class of his pupils to verify its excellency. He 
abandons his old and long-tried plans, and persists in 
the new one. By and by the novelty has worn away 
and his pupils become dull under its operation, and 
reason suggests that a return to the former methods 
would be advisable. Still, because it is Ins invention^ 
he persists. Others try the experiment. Some suc- 
ceed ; some fail. Some of them by a public speech 
commit themselves to ii, and then persist in it to pre- 
serve their consistency. In this way a great many 
objectionable modes of teaching have gained cur- 
rency and still hold their sway in many cf our 
schools. 

Among these I might mention concert recitation^ 
and oral insttniction when made a substitute for study. 
Of the oiigin and tendency of the former I have spoken 
more at length in the chapter on " Conducting Recjia- 



W4 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 



Origin of the oral mor/zta.— Baby-talk !— Great learning ! 

tions." Of the latter a word or two may be said in 
this place. 

It was found years ago, in the earlier attempts to 
teach the blind, that they made very rapid strides in 
acquiring knowledge through the sole medmm of orat 
instruction. As might have been foreseen, they became 
intensely interested in hearing about things which had 
surrounded them all their days, but which they had 
never seen. Shut in as they were from the privilege 
of sight, there was nothing to distract their attention 
from whatever was communicated to them through the 
sense of hearing; and as they had been blind from 
their birth, this discipline of attention had been going 
on from infancy. Under these circumstances their 
progress in knowledge by mere oral teaching was 
astonishing. This was all well. But soon some one 
conceived the idea of substituting oral instruction for 
study among seeing children. Immediately there was 
an oral mania. Infant schools grew up in every vil- 
lage, — infant school manuals were prepared, filled with 
scientific baby-talk, for the use of the worthy dames 
who were to drive the hobby, and the nineteenth cen- 
tury bade fair to do more towards lighting up the fires 
ot science than all time before had accomplished ! Il 
was truly wonderful for a time to listen to the learned 
volubility of these same infant schools. The wonders 
of astronomy, chemistry, botany, and zoology with the 
terms of Cuvier's classification, and a thousand othei 
things, were all detailed with astonishing familiarity by 
pupils under five years of age ! Some eminent leach 



MISCELLANEOU'S SUGGESTIONS. 305 

Extended to higher classes.— A royal road !— Eyes Eire useless orbs ! 



ers sagely look the hint, and adopted the oral system 
with their older classes. The sciences were taught by 
lectures. The pupils of this happy day had nothing to 
do but to sit and receive. To be sure sometimes they 
would become inattentive, and it would be discovered 
bj their teachers that they did not retain quite all that 
was told to them. This, however, was no fault of the 
system, it was urged ; the system was well enough, 
but unfortunately the pupils had eyes, and their atten- 
tion was frequently diverted by the unlucky use of 
these worthless organs. A royal road, sure enough, 
was found to the temple of science, too long beyond 
mortal reach < by reason of the rugged footpath over 
which the student was compelled to climb. Happy, 
glorious day ! No more must toil and thought be the 
price of success ! No more must the midnight oil be 
consumed, and the brain be puzzled, in search of the 
wisdom of ages ! No more must the eyes be pained — 
(they are hereafter to be considered encumbrances) — in 
searching the classic page ; the ear is to be the easy 
inlet to the soul i * * * 



Such was the hobby of 1829 to 1831 in our own 
t,ountry. During sixteen years past, those babes of 
the infant schools have grown into " young men and 
maidens," in no way distinguished, after all, unless they 
have smce achieved distinction by actual study. The 
pupils of those higher schools have obtained whalevei 
they now value in their education, mainly liy the use of 
20 



306 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

God wiser than men.— Other hobbies.— Patent methoda. 

their eyes^ notwithstaniling at one time their worthy 
guides would have almost deemed it a blessing to have 
had their eyes put out. It has been found that God 
was indeed wise in the bestowment of sight, — and 
some at least have acknowledged that a metiiod that is 
well suited to the instruction of those who are blind, 
because it is the only possible one for them, may not 
be the best for those who can see. At the present 
time the sentiment begins to prevail, that oral instruction 
can never supply the place of study ; that the lecturing 
or "pouring-in process," cannot long secure the atten- 
tion ; that the mind by merely receiving, gains no 
vigor of its own ; and that scholars must be made, if 
made at all, mainly by their own exertions in the use 
of books. 

It would be easy to mention other examples of 
hobbies which have been ridden by teachers very much 
to the injury of their schools. Those already given 
may, however, suffice for the purpose of illustration. 
Let it be remembered, then, that no one method of 
mstruction comprises all the excellencies and avoids 
all the defects of good teaching ; and that he is the 
wisest teacher who introduces a judicious variety into 
his modes of instruction, profiting by the suggestions 
of others, but relying mainly upon his own careful 
observation, eschewing all '* patent methods," and 
never losing his common sense. 

Under th? head of hobbies , I may add one other 
remark. Many teachers have some favorite branch of 
fitudy, in which, because tbev excel, they take special 



MISCELl A.NEOUS SUGGESTIONt 307 



Higher branches. — Tilings to be done. — The scholars friend. 

deligiil. One m^n is a good mathematician, another 
an expert accountant, a third a skillful grammarian. 
Now the danger is, that the favorite branch of study 
may become the hobby, — and that the other branches 
tvill be neglected This is indeed not unfrequently 
'.he case. 

Again, some teachers are more interested in the 
highe?- branches generally, beqause they were the last 
pursued in their college course, or for some other 
reason. They therefore neglect the lower studies, to 
the great detriment of the youth under- their charge 
A-gainst all such partial views the teacher should take 
great pains to guard himself. He may fall uncon- 
sciously and almost imperceptibly into some of these 
errors. Let me add the caution, then, — never allow 
your partiality for one study, or a class of studies, to 
divert your attention from all those other bi'anches 
which are necessary to constitute a good education 

SECTION II. — THINGS TO BE PERFORMED. 

I. Convince yaw scholars by your conduct that you 
are their friend. It is all-important that you should 
gain complete ascendency over the minds of your 
pupils. In no way is this point so successfully gained 
as by leading them to feel that you are their true 
friend. When they feel this, all their sentiments of 
generosity, gratitude, and love, conspire to lead them 
to render cheerful obedience to your wishes. Govern- 
iTiei\t then becomes easy ; mstruction is no longei 



808 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIOKS. 

Delightful task.— Love for scholars,— for teaching,— to be felt. 



irksome ; and you can most cordially respond to the 
poet, m that beautiful sentiment too seldom fully 
realized : — 

" Delightful task ! to rear the tender thought. 
And teach the young idea how to shoot, 
To pour the fresh instruction o'er the niind, 
To breatlie the enlivening spirit, and to fix 
The generous purpose in the glowing breast." 

But effectually to convince them that you are thus 
their friend, is not the work of a moment. Words 
alone can never do it. You may make professions of 
interest in them, but it is all to no purpose. Youi 
actions, your looks, your whole spirit must show it. 
In order thus to exhibit it, you must feel a deep, an 
all-pervading interest in the welfare of every child. 
You must love your profession, and you must love — 
sincerely love^-those whom you are called to teach. 
If you do not love the work of teaching, and cannot 
bring yourself to love the children of your charge, 
you may not expect success. It was long ago de 
clared that 

" Love only is the loan for love,"— 

and this is specially true with . the love of children 
Their souls spontaneously go out after those who love 
them. Strive, then, to gain this point with them, not 
by empty pretensions, always quickly read and as 
quickly despised by the young ; but by that full, frank, 
cordial expression of kindness in your manner towards 
them, which, being based upon deep principle in yowr 



MISCEI.I,ANEOUS SUGGES- IONS. 309 

Caro of echool-honse.— Resist the beg^^nnings.— Care of boaks, doeks, &c. 

self, is sure at once to win their affection, and their ready 
comph'ancc with all your reasonable requisitions. 

II. Take special care that the school-house and its 
appendages are kept in good order. This is a part of 
every teacher's duty. He should have an eye that is 
constantly on the alert to perceive the smallest be- 
ginnings of injury to any part of the premises. It is 
often painful to see a new schoolhouse, that has with 
much care and expense been put in perfect order, very 
soon cut and otherwise disfigured by the pupils, — the 
glass broken, the ceiling soiled, the desks and floors 
stained with ink, and every thing bearing the marks of 
youthful destructiveness. The teacher should be held 
accountable for such results, for he can by proper 
vigilance prevent them. 

SomOtof his first lessons to his pupils should be 
upon the subject of practical neatness, in regard to 
every thing that pertains to the school. They should 
be impressed with the belief that he holds neatness as 
1 cardinal virtue. Daily should he watch to discover 
the first violation of propriety upon the premises. 
This first violation should be promptly met. There is 
great wisdom in the adage which enjoins us to *^ resist 
the beginnings." 

So, too, he should exeri^ise an oversight of the books 
belongmg to the pupils. Many books are speedily 
destroyed by children for the want of a little care of 
the teacher, — probably more than are worn out by 
use. He should also occasionally inspect the desks, 
with a view to promote a commendable neatness 



310 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

Rights of property.— American destructiveness.— Whittling. 

there. The teacher has an undoubted right to inspect 
any part of the premises, — but by a little adroitness 
he can interest the children in a reform of this kind, " 
and :hen they will desire that he should witness theii 
carefulness. 

I may add further, that the children should not 
only be taught to respect the school-house and its 
appendages, but they should be taught to regard the 
sacredness of all property either public or privalo. 
The neighboring garden or orchard should be held lo 
be inviolable. The teacher may not have the authority 
to compel compliance with his direction or advice 
beyond school-hours, but he should endeavor to ex- 
ercise a moral influence in the school which will be 
n^ore powerful even than compulsion. So in regard 
to public buildings, such as churches and court 
houses ; and all public grounds, as parks, commons, 
and cemeteries, — the teacher should inculcate not only 
the duty to abstain, from injuring them, but a com- 
mendable desire to see them improved and beautified. 
In America, it is remarked by foreigners, there is u 
strange tendency to destructiveness. In our public 
buildings, the walls are usually disfigured by names 
and drawings, and even our cemeteries do not escape 
the violence of the knives of visitors, the trees being 
cut and marked with names, and the flowers plucked 
off and carried away. It is to be hoped that oui 
teachers will so exercise a reforming influence, thai 
the next generation shall exercise a higher prmciple as 
well ag 1 better taste in all these matters, which, FiiiaU 



MISCELLANEOUS S'JGGESTIO^^>. 311 

American currency.— Its excellence. — Post-office law. 

US they are, make np no mean part of the manners and 
morals of a people. 

III. Teach both by precept and by practice, the use 
of the decimal or American currency. It is very much 
to be regretted that the people in different sections of 
our country still adhere to the use of the old colonial 
currency of pounds, shilhngs, and pence. It is univer 
sally admitted that the decimal system of the United 
States is the most convenient system in the world ; and 
yet our people, after having adopted and legalized it, 
and declared every thing else illegal in accounts, still 
treat the system as if it were lile worst of all. As the 
shilling differs so much in value in the different States, 
it is a source of constant perplexity to the traveler, to 
understand in different localities the real value of the 
sums he hears named. He is obliged to keep up a 
constant process oi reduction of currencies in his mind, 
and after all is liable to be imposed upon. 

By the recent post-office law all the rates of postage 
are graduated on the decimal scale. This is a very fa 
vorable step towards uniformity. Our teachers should 
mculcate the adoption of the same system in all 
matters of business. They should teach the children 
the evils of the prevalent diversity, and endeavor to form 
the habit in them of thinking as well as talking in dol 
lars and cents. To this end all the examples in arith 
metic should be made in our own currency ; all prac 
tical questions proposed by the teacher should conform 
1.0 it, — and the teacher, in conversing with liis pupils as 
well as with all others, should not only use the decimal 



312 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

An error and prejudice.— One country,— one currency. 

system himself, but insist that they shall use the same 
in reply to him. 

I know it is often urged, and especially in the Stale 
of New York, thai it is easier to reckon in shillings and 
pence than in dollars and cents. But this, so far as it 
is true, is because all the prices are graduated by the 
old currency. Let the prices be graduated by the 
decimal ratio, and the advantage is decidedly in its fa- 
vor. Who has ever had the slightest trouble to calcu 
late the amount of his postage dues by the new system \ 

We have one country, — a great country, — a country 
characterized by the free interchange of products, and 
by a constant intercourse of its inhabitants ; we speak 
mostly one language, and are proud to feel that we are 
one great people ; — then why not have one, and only 
ONE currency, equally understood by all, as the law of 
the land contemplates ? 

This subject is worthy of the regard of all teachers 
throughout the land, — and I earnestly call upon them, 
in all places and at all times, to exert whatever influ- 
ence they can, to bring about a result so desirable. 
This can be done ; it will be done ; and the sooner it 
is done the better. 

IV When scholars do wrong, it is sometimes best tt, 
withhold immediate reproof, but to describe a similai 
case in general instruction. This is one of the most 
effectual modes of curing the evil in the wrong-doei 
himself. It, moreover, gives the teacher a valuable 
text for a lesson on morals before the whole school. 
Care should generally be taken not to lead the school 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESllONS. 313 

Gteneral reformation. — Illustration. — A coufessiow. 

to suspect the individual in your mind, while at the 
same time the parable should so fit the case as to pre- 
clude the necessity of saying to the offender, as Nathan 
did to David : " Thou art the man." 

A case will illustrate this. I recollect once to have 
lound, among a large number of compositions presented 
by a class, one that I knew to have been copied. No 
notice was taken of it at the time ; but some days after- 
wards a case was described to the class, resembling the 
one that had actually occurred. After exciting consid- 
erable interest in the case, they were told that such a 
thing had happened among their own number ; that I 
did not choose to expose the individual ; but, if any of 
them thought it would be honorable for them to confess 
such an offense to me in case they had committed it, 
they might seek a private opportunity to do so. In less 
than twenty-four hours no less than four made such a 
confession, detailing freely the extent and the circum- 
stances of their offending. In this way four were re 
formed, where by direct reproof only one could have 
been reached. It was a frank, not a forced confession ; 
and I was thus easily made to know the extent of this 
sin in the school. By this simple expedient, I have 
reason to believe, plagiarism was effectually eradicated 
ibr that term at least, in the whole class, and that too 
without the loss of any pupil's gv»od will. 

It is generally wiser to endeavor to reach the evil in 
Its whole extent, than to expend one's strength upon a 
single instance of wrong doing. The conscience of 
the whole school may sometimes be protiiably aroused, 



314 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

Accuracy. — Certain knowledge.— Prof. Olmsted 

while the particular individual is quite as cJBfectively 
corrected as he wo ild be by a direct reproof. 

V. Be accurate. This is necessary in order to 
secure the respect of your pupils. What the teacher 
professes to know he should be sure of. i^.pproxima- 
tions to the truth are not enough to satisfy the young 
mind. Whenever a teacher makes a blunder by stating 
what is not true in regard to any fact or principle in 
science, any event in history, or any item of statistics, 
he lowers himself very much in the estimation of all 
those who are capable of detecting his error. If he 
does not know, he may frankly say so, and incur no just 
censure, provided the point be one about which he has 
not had the opportunity to gain the requisite informa- 
tion. But when he attempts to speak with the authori- 
ty of a teacher, he '* should know that whereof he af- 
firms." " The character of the teacher," says Profes- 
sor Olmsted, " is sulhed by frequent mistakes, like 
that of a book-keeper or banker. It is surprising to 
see how soon even the youngest learner will lose his 
confidence and respect for his teacher, when he has de- 
tected in him occasional mistakes. At every such dis- 
covery he rises in his own estimation, and the teacher 
proportionally sinks. The very character of the pupil 
is injured by such an incident. He rapidly loses the 
docility and modesty so essential to the scholar, and be- 
comes uplifted with pride and self-importance." Tho 
Buperciliousness thus induced becomes a sore vexation 
to the teacher. He finds that his pupils -are watching 
ior his halting, — and he frequently fails from this very 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGEST10^S. .^15 

Pitiable case.— A pleasant face.— A description. 

circumstance, to do as well as he might. I know of 
no more pitiable condition on earth than that of a 
teacher, who is attempting to teach what he does not 
fully miderstand, while he is conscious that his pupils 
doubt his ability, from a frequent detection of his 
mistakes. 

VI. Cultivate a pleasant countenance. Frowns and 
scowls always sit with ill grace upon the teacher's brow. 
I know that the trials and perplexities incident to his 
daily life are eminently fitted " to chafe his mood" and 
to provoke his impatience. I know, too, that protracted 
confinement from the pure air and the bright sunlight, will 
almost necessarily render the nervous system morbidly 
sensitive, and the temper of course extremely irritable 
The outward exponent of all this is a dejected, and per 
haps an angry countenance. The eyebrows are drawn 
up so that the forehead is deeply and prematurely fur- 
rov^ed, while the angles of the mouth are suffered to 
drop downward as if in token of utter despair. By 
and by the roguishness of some unlucky urchin, distuibs 
the current of his thoughts, — and suddenly the brow is 
firmly knitted with transverse channels, the nostrils are 
distended, the jaws are firmly closed, the lips are com- 
pressed, the cheeks are flushed, and the eyes almost 
emit sparks from the pent-up fire within him. Fcr the 
next half-hour he frowns on all about him. The chil- 
dren at first are awed by such a threatening aspect, — 
but soon they become accustomed to it, and the terrible 
very naturally gives place to the ridiculous. 

No man has a moral right to render those uncomfort 



316 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

Wrong t. frov'u.— Sym pathy between the heart and the countenance. 



able who surround him, by habitually covexing his face 
with the looks of discontent and moroseness. It is pe- 
culiarly wrong for the teacher to do it. It is for him to 
present an example of self-government under all cir- 
cumstances, so that he can consistently enforce the 
duty of self-control upon the young. It is for him to 
show himself a man of principle, of benevolence, of 
cheerful devotion to his duty, however full of trials that 
duty may be ; and in no way can he do this more ef- 
fectually than by an amiable and engaging countenance. 
A peevish, frowning teacher is very likely to produce 
petulance and sullenness in his pupils ; while a cordial 
smile, like the genial beam of the spring-day sun, not 
only sheds a welcome light on all around, but it imparts 
a blessed heat, which penetrates the frigidity of the 
heart, dissipates the cheerless mists that hover there, 
and warms the generous affections into life and 
beauty. 

We are so constituted that the inward and the out- 
ward sympathize with each other. Solomon says, " a 
merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance," — and 1 
may venture to add, and with almost as much truth, a 
cheerful countenance maketh a merry heart. An 
honest attempt to bless others with the sight of a 
countenance that is expressive of content and patience, 
is an act so praiseworthy in itself, that it will never go 
unrewarded. The gratifying response which such a 
countenance is sure to call forth from others, brings 
wich it a rich revenue of inward enjoyment. He, 
therefore, wlio liabitually bears about with him a sad 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTICNS. 311 

A question.— Yes.— Carlyle.— Means recommended. 

or an angry countenance, while he constantly impairs 
the happiness of others, lacks at the same time an im 
portant instnimentality for securing his own. 

But the question will arise, — can a man gain such 
ascendency over himself as to control the expression of 
his countenance ? I answer, without hesitation, yes. 
"Whatever ought to be done, can be done." It is not 
perfectly easy to do it, especially for the teacher. 
Still, self-control — full, complete self-control — is his 
appropriate duty as well as privilege. He must, as 
Carlyle quaintly enjoins, " learn to devour the chagrins 
of his lot." He must calculate beforehand that every 
day will bring its cares and its trials ; but he should 
daily resolve that they shall never take him by sur- 
prise, nor betray him into sudden impatience. Each 
morning as he walks to the scene of his labors, he 
should fortify himself against sudden anger or habitual 
moroseness on this wise : " No doubt this day some 
untoward occurrence will transpire, calculated to try 
my patience and to provoke me to fretful words and 
angry looks. All my past experience leads me to 
expect this. But this day I will try to resist the temp 
tation to this weakness. I will try to be self-possessed. 
If any child is vicious, or fretful, or dull, or even 
impudent, I will endeavor to show that I can com 
mand myself. If 1 feel some angry passion enkin 
dling within me, I will stop and think, and I will 
endeavor to smile before I speak If I can to-day 
gain the victory over impatience, and can maintain an 
even and cheerful temper, and express it constantly in 



318 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

I'll try.— A victory.— Art of illustrating,— illustrated. 

my countenance, it will be easier to do it to-morrow. 
At all events, Til tryT 

Taking hold thus in earnest, any man may soon br. 
his o\^ n master. He can gain the victory. If he can 
do it, he ought to do it. Hence I urge it as a d\ity 
Nor is it merely a duty. It is a high privilege. A 
complete victory for a single day v^ill bring its own 
reward.^ A man who feels that he has risen above 
his temptation, can return to his rest with a light and 
happy heart. Sleep to him will be sweet, and he will 
arise on the morrow with renewed strength for the 
fresh conflict, — and in the moral as well as in the 
literal warfare, every contest which ends in victory, 
gives additional strength to the victor, while it weakens 
and disheartens his enemy. 

VII. Study to acquire the art of aptly illustrating 
a difficult subject. Some teachers content themselves 
with answering in the precise language of the book 
whenever a question for information is propounded. 
This however is by no means sufficient, even when 
the language of the book is strictly accurate ; much 
less, when the language is so vague as to convey no 
definite idea to the mind, either of the learner or the 
teacher. On the other hand, a man who is apt to 
teach, Will devise some ingenious method of enlighten- 
ing the mind of his pupil, so that he shall lay hold of 
the idea as with a manly grasp, and make it his own 
forever. 

This p)int will, perhaps, be best illustrated by an 
example. A young man was employed to take charge 



DllSCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 319 

Lesson in philosophy. — Media. — A puzzle. 

of a school fo: a few days during a temporary illness 
of the regular instructor. He was a good scholar, a? 
the world would say, and was really desirous to 
answer the expectation of his employers. After the 
regular teacher had so far recovered his health as to 
be able to leave his room, he walked one pleasant day 
to the school, to see what success attended the labors 
of the new incumbent. A class was reciting in 
natural philosophy. Th« subject under consideration 
was — the obstacles which impede the motion of ma- 
chinery. The attraction of gravity, as one of these, 
was pretty easily disposed of ; for the class had before 
been instructed on that point. Friction came next 
Here, too, the pupils, having had some practical ex- 
perience of their own, in dragging their sleds, io 
skating, or perhaps in turning a grindstone, found no 
great difficulty. The book spoke a language suffi- 
ciently clear to be understood. Next came the " re- 
sistance of the various media," to use the language of 
the text-book. " Yes," said the teacher, as one of the 
pupils gravely quoted this language, " that has no 
inconsiderable effect." 

"The * resistance of the various medisiV " — repeated 
one of the boys inquiringly, " I do not know as I 
understand what media means." 

" A medium is that in which a body moves,'' was 
thp. ready repl} which the teacher read from the book. 

Pupil. " A medium .?" 

Teacher. Yes ; we say medium when we mean bu 
»jne, and media when we mean mere than one 



320 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

, Further doubts.— An i-iterposition. 

Pupil. "When we mean but one?" 

Teacher. " Yes : medium is singular — m£^Ja is 
plural " 

After this discussion, which began in philosoph) but 
ended in grammar, the teacher was about to proceed 
with the next question of the book. But the scholar 
was not yet satisfied and he ventured to press his 
inquiries a little further. 

Pupil. Is this room a medium ? 

Teacher. " This room ?" 

Pupil. Yes sir ; you said that a medium w^as " that 
m which anybody moves," and we all move in this room. 

Teacher. Yes, but medium does not mean a room ; 
it is the substance in which a body moves. 

Here the lad looked perplexed and unsatisfied. He 
had ro clear idea of the meaning of this new term 
The teacher looked at his watch, and then glanced at 
the remaining pages of the lesson and seemed im 
patient to proceed, — so the pupil forbore to inquire 
further. 

The regular teacher, who had listened to the discus- 
sion with no ordinary interest, both because he admired 
the inquisitiveness of the boy, and because he was 
curious to discover how far the new incumbent pos 
vsessed the power of illustration, here interposed. 

"John," — taking his watch in his. hand — "would 
this watch continue to go, if I should drop it into a 
pail of water ?" 

" I should think t would nof long^' said John, after 
a little reflection. 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 321 

A. smUe.— Light breaks in.— The class proceed. 

"Why not?" said his teacher, as he opened his 
watch. 

"Because the water would get round the wheels and 
stop it, I should think," said John. 

" How would it be if I should drop it into a quart 
of molasses ?" 

The boys laughed. 

" Or into a barrel of tar '" 

The boys still smiled. 

" Suppose I should force it, while open, into a 
quantity of lard." 

Here the boys laughed heartily, while John said, 
" the watch would not go in any of these articles." 

^^ Articles l^"* said his teacher, "why not say media?" 

John's eye glistened as he caught the idea. " Oh, 
J understand it now." 

His teacher then said, that many machines woiked 
in air, — then the air was the medium. A fish swims 
in water, — water is his medium. A fish could hardly 
swim in molasses or tar. " Now," inquired he, "why 
not?"' 

" Because of the resistance of the medium " said 
John, with a look of satisfaction. 

" Now why will the watch go in air and not m 
water ^" 

" Because the water is more dense," said John 
promptly. 

" Then upon what does the resistance of a medium 
depend ?" 

Here the new teacher mterposed, and said that was^ 
21 



^22 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

'I he flifference. — Study expedients.— A moral impression. 

the next question in the book, and he was just going to 
ask it himself. The regular teacher put his watch 
into his pocket and became a spectator again, and the 
lesson proceeded with unwonted vivacity. The dif- 
ference between these two teachers mainly consisted 
in the fact, that one had the ingenuity to devise an 
expedient to meet a difficulty whenever occasion re- 
quired, — the other had not. 

Now in order to teach well, a man should diligently 
seek for expedients. He should endeavor to foresee 
the very points where the learner will stumble, and pro- 
vide himself with the means of rendering timely aid. 
If an object cannot be described in words, let it be 
compared with what it resembles, or with what it con- 
trasts. If it be an object of sense, and words and com- 
parisons fail to describe it, — in the absence of apparatus 
to represent it, let the teacher spring to the black board 
and execute a hasty drawing of it. In this way the 
construction or the working of a machine, the form of 
a bone o/ the action of a joint, the shape of a town oi 
the plan of a building, — in short, almost every subject 
that involves the relation of form, size, proportion, 
quantity, or number, will admit of visible illustration. 
He is the successful teacher who is able at the moment 
to seize upon the best expedient, and render it subser- 
vient to his purpose. 

VIII. Take advantage of unusual occuri^er^ces to make 
a moral or religious impression. In a formei chapter 
I have urged it as a part of the teacher's work, to cul- 
tivate and slrengthen both the moral sentiments ai.d the 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 32i3 



Set k^ssons not useful.— The fit occasion.— Erampl« I 

religious feelings of the members of his school. Thia 
is not most effectually done by a formal mode of speak 
ing to them on these subjects. If a particular hour is 
sei apart for formal lectures on their duty to their fel 
low-men and their obligations to God, they are very 
apt to fortify their sensibilities against the most faithful 
appeals, and thus render them powerless. The wise 
teacher will watch for the fit opportunity, and, just at 
the moment when the heart is prepared by some suita 
ble occurrence, — when by some exhibition of the Crea 
tor's power it is awed into reverence, or softened into 
submission ; or by some display of his goodness it is 
warmed into gratitude, or animated with delight, — with 
a few words, seasonably and " fitly spoken," he fixes 
the impression forever. Speaking at the right time, 
every ear listens, and every heart feels. 

Perhaps many of my readers can revert to some 
season in their childhood, endeared to them by a pre- 
cious recollection of golden words thus opportunely ut- 
tered, — words fra ight with truth which in after-life has 
had an unspeakable influence in the formation of their 
character. One or two examples connected with my 
own experience, may be presented, more fully to illuS'- 
trate my meaning ; while at the same time they may 
afford, it is hoped, some valuable hints for. the encour- 
agemen . and guidance of such young teachers as desire 
in this way to make themselves the instruments of last- 
ing benefit to the young. 

KxAMPLE I. I can never forget — nor would I if J 
rould — a lesson impressed upon my own youthfiii 



S24 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

A thum ler-stonn.— Alarm.— Confusion. 

mind, conveying the truth that we are constantly de- 
pendent upon our Heavenly Father for protection. In 
a plain country school-house, some twenty-five children, 
including myself, were assembled with our teacher on 
the afternoon of a summer's day. We had been as 
happy and as thoughtless as the sportive lambs that 
cropped the clover of the neighboring hill-side. En- 
grossed with study or play, — for at this distance of 
time it is impossible to tell which, — we had not noticed 
the low rumbling of the distant thunder, till a sudden 
flash of lightning arrested our attention. Immediately 
the sun was vailed by the cloud, and a corresponding 
gloom settled upon every face within. The elder girls, 
with the characteristic thoughtfulness of woman, hastily 
inquired whether they should not make the attempt to 
lead their younger brothers and sisters to the paternal 
roof before the bursting of the storm. For a moment 
our little community was thrown into utter confusion 
The teacher stepped hastily to the door to survey more 
perfectly the aspect of the western heavens. Imme- 
diately returning, he signified to the children that there 
would not be time for them to reach their homes before 
the tempest would be upon them. Oppressed with 
dread, — for it is no uncommon thing for children in 
the country to be terrified by lightning, — some of the 
youngest of us clung to our older brothers or sisters, 
while others, being the sole representatives of their 
family in the school, for the first time felt their utter 
loneliness in the midst of strangers, and gave utterance 
to theii feelings m audible sighs or unequivocal sob^j 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTI0W8 325 



Teacher's self-possession. — A fearful tempest — Awful pause , 



The teacher, meanwhile, with an exemplary calm- 
ness and self-possession, closed the windows and the 
doors, and then seated himself quite near the younger 
pupils, to await the result. The thick darkness gath- 
ered about us, as if to make the glare of the lightning, 
by contrast, more startling to our vision ; while the 
loud thunder almost instantly followed, as it were the 
voice of God. The wind howled through the branches 
of a venerable tree near by, bending its sturdy trunk, 
and threatening to break asunder the cords which 
bound it to its mother earth. An angry gust assailed 
the humble building where we were sheltered ; it 
roared down the capacious chimney, violently closed 
a shutter that lacked a fastening, breaking the glass 
by 'ts concussion, and almost forced in the frail 
window-sashes on the westerly side of the room 
Quicker and more wild the lightnings glared — flash af- 
ter flash — as if the heavens were on fire ; louder and 
nearer the thunder broke above our heads, while the 
inmates of the room, save the teacher, were pale with 
terror. 

At this moment there was a sudden cessation of the 
war of elements, — a hush — almost a prophetic pause ! 
It was that brief interval which precedes the falling 
\orrent. A dread stillness reigned within the room. 
Every heart beat hurriedly, and every countenance told 
the consternation that was reigning within. It was an 
awful moment ! 

Witl % calm voice, breathing a subdued and confi- 
ding «5pirit the teacher imuroved this opportunity to 



S26 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

Teacher's words^. — Rain. — Sunshine. — Bright faces. 

impress upon our young minds a great truth. " Feai 
nut, children," said he, "it is your Heavenly Father 
that sends the storm as well as the sunshine and the 
gentle breeze. You have been just as much in his 
powc all day, as you are at this moment. He has 
been as near you, supporting you supplying you with 
breath, with life, all through the pleasant morning ; but 
then you did not see him. He is just as able to pro- 
tect you now, for ' not a sparrow falls to the ground 
without his notice ^and he ruleth the storm and 
rideth upon the wings of the wind.' We should ever 
feel willing to trust him ; for he is ever able to grant 
us dehverance from all our dangers. God is here now 
to protect us." 

Just as he had finished these words the rain began to 
fall. First the drops were few and scattered ; but soon 
the windows of heaven were opened, and the thirsty 
ground was abundantly satisfied. The sound of the 
thunder became fainter and fainter as the cloud passed 
away ; the sun burst out again in renewed splendor ; 
the full drops glittered in his beams upon the grass ; 
the birds began their songs ; the rainbow spanned the 
eastern hilJs ; and our hearts, taught by the timely in 
structions of a good man, began to expand with eager 
gratitude for our preservation by the hand of our 
Heavenly Father. 

The remainder of the afternoon passed happily away , 
and when our hooks were laid aside, and we were ready 
to burst out of the room to enjoy the refreshing air and 
participate in the general joy ; the teacher, taking the 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 327 

The Bible speaks.— Words fitly spoken.— The effect. 

Bible from the desk, asked us to reaiain quiet a mo- 
ment while he would read a few words that he hoped 
we should never forget. 

The passage was the following, from the 65th 
Psalm : — 

By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our sal- 
vation ; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, £ind of them 
that are afar off upon the sea. Which by his strength setteth fast the 
mountains ; being girded with power : which stilleth the noise of the seas, 
the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people. 

They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens : thou 
makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice. 

Thou visitest the earth and waterest it : thou greatly enrichest it with the 
river of God, which is full of water : thou prepares! them corn, when thou 
hast so provided for it. 

Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly : thou settlest the furrows 
thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing 
thereof. 

Thou crownest the year with thy goodness ; and thy paths drop fatness. 
They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice 
on every side. 

The pastures are clothed with flocks ; the valleys also are covered over 
with corn ; they shout for joy, they also sing. 

After closing the book, the teacher said, " Go out 
now, children, and witness how perfectly these words 
have been fulfilled toward us this afternoon, — and trum 
this day's mercies, learn hereafter to trust God as con- 
fidently in the storm, when he displays his power by 
his outward 'tokens,' as when he kindly smiles upon 
you in the beams of the glorious sun, or gently breather 
upon you in the morning breeze." 

We went forth bounding in gladness and gratitude, 
and saw the " outgoings of the evening to rejoice,"— 
*tiie pastures clothed with flocks," — "the -valleys cov- 



328 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

Blessed memories. — Example II. — A dark day. 

ered over with corn," — " the little hills rejoicing on 
overy side ;" — we heard also the general shout for joy 
— and we felt as we never before had felt, a deep, 
thorough, abiding conviction of the truth that God is 
our father and our friend ; the God of our salva- 
tion. 

I know not how soon these inipressions faded from 
the minds of the other children, — but for myself I can 
say, that from that time to the present, whenever I 
have been exposed to apparent danger from the im- 
pending tempest, the warring elements, or the ravages 
of disease, the teachings of that hour have always 
revived in my mind to soothe my troubled spirit, and 
to reassure my faith and confidence in the presence of 
an all-sufficient and merciful Preserver. A thousand 
times have I devoutly blessed the memory of that 
faithful teacher, for having so early and so happily 
turned my thoughts upward to Him, in whom " we 
live, and move, and have our being." 

Example II. It was in the afternoon of a gloomy 
day in the latter part of November, when the pupils, 
consisting of some fifty boys, belonging to a school in 
a pleasant seaport town in New England, were told by 
their teacher, a few minutes before the usual hour, that 
ihey might lay aside their studies, and prepare for dis- 
mission. During the early part of the day there had 
been one of tliose violent southeast rain storms, so 
common upon the seacoast at that season of the year 
h is well known to the observing mariner, that a storm 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. . 329 

Lull of th« storm.— Change of wind.— Early dismission. 

from the southeast never continues beyond twelve or 
fifteen hours; and when lie violence of the storm 
abates, it is a common remark of the sailor, that " the 
northwester is not long in debt to the southeaster." 
Previous to this change of wind, however, there is 
what is expressively termed the " lull of the storm,^^ — 
a period when the rain ceases to fall, the wind dies 
away to a perfect calm, the barometer is suddenly 
depressed, the clouds hover almost upon the face 
of the earth, shutting out the light of the sun, and 
causing a cheerless damp to settle upon every thing 
terrestrial, and a dreary gloom to enshroud the mind 
itself. When the wind changes, these clouds are 
not gradually dissolved and broken up, so that the 
eye can catch transient glimpses of the blue sky 
beyond, as after a snow-storm in winter ; but the 
dark drapery is suddenly lifted up, as if by an 
unseen hand, and the western sky, from the hori- 
zon upwards, is left more bright and more charm- 
ing than ever, to refresh the eye and reanimate the 
soul. 

It was such a day, as before remarked, when the 
pupils of this school — partly because of the darkness 
in the schoolroom, and partly because of their pro- 
tracted confinement within a close apartment during a 
gloomy afternoon — were, a little earher than usual, 
about to be dismissed. The pupils all seemed 1o 
welcome the happy release that awaited them, — and in 
their eagerness to escape from confinement, they very 
naturally neglected to observe their accustomed regard 



330 • MISCELLAISEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

Impatience.— Light breaks in.— The "garment of praise."- Song. 

for quiet and order in laying aside their books. It 
was, however, a fixed habit with the teacher, never tc 
give the signal for leaving the room till all the pupils 
had taken the proper attitude for passing out with regu- 
larity, and then had composed themselves to perfect 
silence. On this occasion perhaps two minutes passed 
away while the boys were gradually, almost impa- 
tiently, bringing themselves to a compliance with this 
rule of the teacher. 

During this interval of waiting, the cloud, unper 
ceived by the teacher, had been slowly raised up from 
the western horizon, just in time to allow the setting 
sun to bestow a farewell glance upon the sorrowing 
world at his leave-taking. Through the Venetian 
blinds that guarded the windows toward the west, the 
celestial light gleamed athwart the apartment, and 
painted the opposite wall, in front of the pupils, with 
streaks of burnished gold ! In an instant every coun- 
tenance was changed. A smile now joyously played 
where before sadness and discontent had held their 
moody reign. The teacher was reminded, by all these 
circumstances, of the beautiful language of the prophet, 
which promised the gift of '* the garment of praise for 
the spirit of heaviness.''^ What could be more appro- 
priate on this occasion than a song oi praise ? Without 
speaking a single word, the teacher commenced one 
of the little songs already famihar to the whole 
BcJiool : — 

Lo the heavens are break ig, 
Pure and bright above ; 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 331 

Singing with the spirit.— An impression.— GotZ is good. 

Life and light awaking, 
Murmur— Gorf is love. 

God is love. 

Kound yon pine-clad mountain, 

l*1ows a golden flood ; 
Hear the sparkling fountain, 

Whisper — God is good. 

God is good. 

Wake, my heart, and springing. 

Spread thy wings above,— 
Soaring siiU and singing, 

God is ever good. 

God 18 GOOD 



Instantly every voice that had ever sung, now uttered 
heartfelt praise. The attendant circumstances, taken 
at the happy moment, furnished such an impressive 
commentary upon the import of the v^^ords, that they 
were felt, as they never before had been felt, to be 
the words of precious truth. Every heart throbbed in 
unison with the sentiment. At the close of the song, 
there was profound silence in the room. After a 
moment's pause, during .which the truth that God is 
good seemed to pervade each mind and hold it in silent 
reverence, — the signal for departure was given. One 
aiter another the boys passed from their seats with a 
light and careful step, as if noise and haste would be 
a desecration both of the lime and place, — and when 
ihey reached the open air, refreshing and exhilarating 
as it was, there was no boisterous shout, no rude 
mirth , each took his homeward course, apparently 
with a new and lively conviction that God is gooo 



332 MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

Other occasions.— Teacher's satisfaction. 

It has always been a source of pleasure lo that 
teacher to recall from the " buried past" the associa 
tions connected with that delightful hour and thai 
charming song; and it has been among the most 
gratifying incidents of his expeiience as a teacher, to 
hear more than one of those pupils in later life recur 
to the memory of that day, and acknowledge with 
thankfulness the lasting impressions which then and 
there were made upon their minds. 



It would be easy to furnish examples to almost any 
extent, of the manner in which this principle has been, 
or may be carried out in practice. The degradation 
of an intoxicated person who may pass the school, — 
the pitiable condition of the man who may wander 
through the streets bereft of his reason, — any instance 
of sudden death in the neighborhood, particularly of a 
young person, — the passing of a funeral procession, — 
in short, any occurrence that arrests the attention ot 
the young and enlists their feeling, may be seized upon 
as the means of making upon their minds an impres- 
sion for good. The facts developed in many of their 
lessons, too, afford opportunities for incidental moral 
instruction. The adaptation of means to ends, — the 
evidence of design and intelligence displayed in tb^. 
works of creation, — the existence of constant and uni 
form laws as developed in the sciences, all furnish the 
means of leading the young mind to God. 

That teacher will enjoy the richest satisfaction in 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 



333 



Pleasant retrospection. 



the evening of life, who, in looking back upon his past 
experience, shall be conscious that he has improved 
every opportunity, which God has given him, to turn 
the youthful affections away fiom the things of earth 
to seek a wortiiier object in things above. 



3'A4. THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 



Low pecuniary reward.— Illustrated. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 

It is proverbial that the pecuniary compensation of 
the teacher is, in mosf places, far below the propei 
standard. It is very much to be regretted that an em- 
ployment so important in all its bearings, should oe so 
poorly rewarded. In New England there are man} 
young women who, having spent some time m teaching, 
have left that occupation to go into the large manufac- 
turing establishments as laborers, simply because they 
could receive a higher compensation. I have knov\m 
several instances in which young ladies, in humble 
circumstances, have left teiching to become domestics 
thus performing the most ordinary manual labor, be 
cause they could receive better pay ; that is, the 
farmers and mechanics of the district could afford to 
pay more liberally for washing and ironing, for making 
butter and cheese, for sweeping floors and cleaning 
paint, than they could for educating the immortal minds 
of their children ! 

Nor is this confined to the female sex. Young 
mechanics and farmers, as well as those employed in 
manufacturing, frequently receive higher wages than 
the common-school teacher in the same district. Many 



THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHLR. 333 

Driving i)egs.— Injustice.— Extra expense. 

a young man who has only genius enough to drive ih-e 
pegs of a shoe in a regular row, and skill enough to 
black the surface of the article when it is completed, 
having spent but a few weeks in learning his trade, 
receives more money for his work than he who, after 
iiavmg spent months, or even years, in gaining the 
requisite qualifications, labors to polish that nobler 
material, the human soul. 

The injustice of this becomes more apparent when 
we bear in mind that public opinion demands, and justly 
loo, that the teacher should be not only gentlemanly in 
his manners, but better clad than the mere labt rer, — 
thus throwing upon him a greater burden without 
affording him the means of sustaining it. The female 
teacher of a district school, in order to be respectable, 
must be much more expensively dressed than the do- 
mestic in the family where she boards, and is thus 
compelled to consume most of her receipts upon her 
wardrobe, — while the domestic is able to place surplus 
money at interest in the Savings Bank. This injustice 
has so often been laid before the people, and yet has 
been so long continued, that many have given up in 
despair, and abandoned an employment that has yielded 
so little, choosing rather to engage in that lower service 
which is so rfiuch belter paid. 

This sufficiently explains why so many unqualified 
teachers have Been found in our common schools. IMen 
of. talents and ability being tempted to other employ- 
ments, have left the field unoccupied ; and those men 
who have failed to gain a comfortable living by theii 



336 THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 

Living by wits.— Improvement.— Means of mental growth. 

hands, have been allowed to try the experiment of 
supporting life hy their wits^ — that is, by beconning 
teachers ! 

Such has been the case for a long time past ; and, 
(hough in many quarters the people are beginning to 
open their eyes to their true interest, and are gradually 
and commendably coming up to their duty, yet, for 
some time to come, the pecuniary compensation will not 
constitute the chief reward of the teacher. If he will go 
cheerfully to his work, and find his daily enjoyment in 
nis daily toil, he must have a higher object, some more 
ejevating, inspiring motive, than mere money-getting. 
The chief encouragements of the faithful teacher lie in 
another direction. 

It is the object of the following paragraphs to point 
out some of these encouragements ; for, having in the 
preceding paffes required very much at his hands, I feel 
that it is but just chat he should be invited to look at the 
brighter side of the picture, so that when he is ready to 
sink under the responsibihties of his position, or to yield 
to the obstacles that oppose his progress, he may have 
something to animate his soul, and to nerve him anew 
for the noble conflict. 

I. The teacher's employment affords the means of in- 
tellectual growth. If a man teaches as he should teach, 
he must of necessity improve himself. Teaching, un- 
derstandingly pursued, gives accuracy. I know it is 
possible for a man to be a mere schoolmaster — apeda 
goguty without any self-improvement. But I am speak- 
ing of the faithful, devoted teacher, — the man wh«> 



THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 337 

Meems of moral growth.— Diustrated. 

Studies, reflects, invents. Such a man learns more than 
his pupils. Every time he takes a class through any 
branch of study, he does it more skillfully, more thor- 
oughly than before. He brings some fresh illustration 
of it, presents some new view of it, and hence takes a 
lively interest in it himself, and awakens a new zeal 
among his pupils. Measuring himself by his new suc- 
cess, he feels a consciousness of growth, of progress. 
This consciousness is a precious reward. 

11. The teacher's employment affords the means oj 
moral growth. Brought constantly in contact with 
those who need a careful guidance, he feels impelled to 
earnest effort in order to obtain the mastery over hint- 
self, as the best means of gaining complete influence 
over others. Studying the weak points in their char 
acter, he is constantly reminded of those in his own , 
and self-knowledge is the first step toward self 
improvement. Beginning in the feebleness of inex* 
perience, he bolsters up his authority at first by a 
frequent resort to force ; but, as he goes on, he finds 
himself gradually gaining such ascendency over the 
vicious as to control them quite as efl'ectually by milder 
means. At first, easily excited to anger or impatience 
he frequently indulged in severe language when it was 
unnecessary, — but by careful discipline he has learned 
to * set a watch before his mouth and to keep the door 
uf his lips." Encouraged by one victory over himself, 
he is prepared for another. Having learned by self 
discipline to control his outward acts, he next attempts 
the mastery of liis thoughts. He soon finds that hie 

22 



338 THE REWARDS OP THE TEACHLil 



Moral power. — Progress in the art of teaching. 

moral power over others is very much increased. Some- 
how- — though perhaps he cannot yet tell the reason why 
— he finds he can secure obedience with half the eifoit 
formerly required, — he gains the love of his pupil ^ 
more readily, — and, with the exception, now and I hen, 
of an extreme case, he finds that he excites a deeper 
interest than ever before in the whole round of duty 
among the scholars. Why is this ? he asks, — and the 
consciousness of increased moral power rising up with- 
in him, is a source of the highest satisfaction. Pecu- 
niary emolument sinks into nothing considered as a 
reward, when compared with a conscious victory ove? 
himself 

III. A consciousness of improvement in the art oj 
teaching is another reward. Such improvement will 
follow as a matter of course from his self-improvement 
in the particulars just named. As his own mind ex • 
pands, he feels a new impulse to ex3rt himself to inter- 
est others in the subjects he teaches. He soon comes 
lo look upon the work of instruction, not as a mere 
mechanical business, to be done in a formal way, but as 
a noble art, based upon certain great principles that are 
capable of being understood and applied. He employs 
all his ingenuity to discover the natural order of present- 
mg truth to the mind, — to ascertain the precise degree 
of aid the learner needs, and th*e point where the 
loacher should stop. He studies carefully the propei 
motives to be presented as incentives to exertion. 
Tntorested in his labor as a ^reat work, looking upon 
liis influence as telling upon all fulinc tunc, he devotes 



THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 330 

Pupils' growth of mind. — Immediate resulta. 

himself daily with new zeal, and is rewarded with the 
consciousness of new success, 

IV. The teacher is permitted also to witness the con 
slant growth of mind among his pupils. I say constant, 
because the teacher is not obliged to labor without see- 
ing immediate results. The .minister of religion may 
sometimes sow the seed of the good word, while the 
fruit does not appear for a long season. Sometimes a 
spiritual apathy prevails, so that the most faithful warn 
mgs and the most earnest appeals seem to fall powerless 
upon the conscience ; and he is led almost to despair of 
ever being able to break the deathlike slumber. It is 
not thus with the teacher. His labor tells immediately 
upon the young mind. EvenwAzZe he is yet speaking, 
he is gratified with observing the soul's expansion as il 
grasps and assimilates some new idea which he pre* 
sents. From day to day, as he meets his classes, he 
sees how they go on from strength to strength, — at first, 
indeed, with the halting, tottering step of the feeble 
babe, but soon with the firm and confident tread of the 
vigorous youth. 

A teacher who is for several years employed in his 
vocation, is often astonished at the rapidity with which 
the young, who come to him as mere children, grow 
into men and women, and take their places on the stage 
of life as prominent actors. Some of them distinguish 
themselves in the arts ; some become noted for thei'* 
attainments in science ; sotne receive the honors of 
oilicp and become leaders in civil affairs ; some g.-ini 
eminence as professional men ; and ver\ likely a large 



340 THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 



*• They were my pupils."— Useful calling.— Professor Agnew. 

portic n of them are engaged in the various departments 
of honorable industry. Wherever they are, and what- 
ever they are, they are now exerting a powerful in- 
fluence in the community. They have grown up under 
his eye, and have been essentially shaped by his plastic 
hand. He looks upon them almost with the interest 
and pride of a father. He counts them as his jewels ; 
and when he hears of their success, the^'r usefulness, 
and their honors, his heart leaps within him, as he 
thinks, " they were my pupilsJ'^ Even though he may 
have wasted the strength of his best days in the service, 
what a reward is this for the teacher ! 

V. The teacher has the consciousness of being en 
gaged in a useful and honorable calling. What though 
he may not become rich in this world's goods ? Who 
would not prefer above houses and lands, — infinitely 
above all the wealth of earth, the consciousness of be 
ing engaged in a work of usefulness ? Man was made 
for usefulness, — and who would not desire to answer 
the design of his creation ? 

My pen is too feeble to attempt to portray the useful 
ness of the faithful teacher. He educates the immortal 
mind, — wakes it to thought, — trains it to discipline — 
self-discipline, — moves it to truth and virtue, — fills it 
with longings for a more perfect state, and sends it forth 
to exert its power for good through all coming time I 

To this end," in the glowing language of Professor 
Agnew, " he communicates a knowledge of letters, 
opens out gradually before the child the book of nature 
and the hterature rf the world ; he disciplines his mind 



THE REWARDS IF THE TEACHER. 34 1 

Educates the mind.— Trains the affections.— The infant becomte a mail. 

and leaches him how to gather knowledge from every 
source ; he endeavors to impart quickness and reten- 
tiveness of memory, to cultivate a refined and well, 
regulated imagination, to task, and thus to give vigor to 
his reasoning powers. He points out the appropriate 
objects of the several affections, and the proper exercise 
of the passions; he gives lessons to conscience, derived 
from the pure fountain of God's own revelation, and 
teaches him to subject his own will to the Highest 
Will. He instructs him in the various sciences, and 
thus displays before him worlds of wondrous interest, 
and invests him with the sources and means of pure 
enjoyment. He trains him for the sweet sympathies 
of social life ; and unfolds before him the high behests 
of duty — duty to himself, his fellow-creatures, his 
family, his God. 

" Under such a tuition, behold the helpless infant 
grown to manhood's prime, — a body well developed, 
strong, and active ; a mind symmetrically unfolded, and 
powers of intellection closely allied to those of the spirits 
in celestial spheres. He becomes a husband and a 
father ; in these, and in all the relations of life, he per 
forms well his part. Above all, he is a Christian, with 
well-trained affections and a tender conscience, su- 
premely loving God, maintaining a constant warfare 
with the world, the flesii, and the devil, — growing up 
into the stature of a perfect man in Christ, and antici- 
pating the fullness of joy and pleasure for evermore 
which are at God's right hand. The time of his de 
parture at length arrives ; he has fought the good fight 



342 THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 



A transit. — No limits to usefulness. — Honorable. — Why ? 



he has finished his course, and he goes to obtain his 
crown and to attune his harp, and forever to dwell on 
the hills of light and love, where angels gather immor- 
tality. Oh, what a transit ; from the dependent hr,lp- 
lessnoss of infancy to the glory of a seraph ; from 
mind scarcely manifested, to mind ranging o\er the 
immensity of Jehovah's empire, and rising in the lof- 
tiest exercises of reason and affection ! And how much 
has the faithful teacher had to do in fitting him for the 
blissful mansions of the skies !" 

If such be the teacher's work, where is the limit to 
his usefulness ? Yet he may do this not for one merely, 
but for scores, or even hundreds. Eternity alone can 
display the immeasurable, inconceivable usefulness of 
one devoted teacher. 

And is not the teacher's calling honorable ? It is, — 
for its usefulness makes it honorable. To scatter the 
light of truth is always honorable. So some of the 
greatest and best men the world ever saw have believed, 
and have illustrated their faith by their practice. Con- 
fucius, Socrates, Seneca, Aristotle, and Plato were 
specimens of the teachers of ancient date. Roger 
Ascham, John Milton, Francke, Pestalozzi, Arnold, 
and a host of others, have adorned the profession in 
later times. Yet these are men who have taught the 
world to think. Their works live after them, — and will 
continue to live, when the proud fame of the mighty 
warriors, who have marked their course in blood, shall 
have perished from the earth. 

If it weie necessary and not invidious, bow many 



THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 343 

Our great men began as teachers. — Gratitude of pupils. 

distinguished men in our own country could be men- 
tioned, who have been teachers of the young, or who 
are still engaged as such. Besides those who have 
made teaching the business of their lives, how many 
have be»n temporarily employed in this calling. Some 
of our presidents, many of our governors, most of out 
jurists and divines, — indeed, some of every profession, 
" and of the chief women not a few'''' — have first dis 
tinguished themselves as school-teachers. Well may 
teachers, then, regard their profession as an honorable 
one ; always remembering, however, that '* it is not 
the position which makes the man honorable, but the 
man the position." 

VI. The teacher enjoys the grateful remembrance of 
his pupils and of their frie?ids. When a distinguished 
writer said, " God be thanked for the gift of mothers 
and schoolmasters," he expressed but the common sen- 
timent of the human heart. The name of parent justly 
enkindles the warmest emotions in the heart of him 
who has gene out from his native home to engage in 
the busy scenes of the work-day world ; and when 
sometimes he retires from the companionship of new- 
made friends to recall the picture of the past and the 
loved of other days, — to think ^ 

** Of chiidish iays wbea bounding boyhood imew 
No grief, but ctiased the gorgeous butterfly. 
And gambol'd with the breeze, that tossed about 
His silken curls—" 

kow sweetly do the gentle influences of home and 



344 THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 

Gratitude to parents first.— A devoted mother. 

cliildhood, with all their tender and hallowed associa 
tions, come stealing over the soul ! The world la 
forgotten ; care may not intrude upon this sacred 
hour ; objects of sense are unheeded ; the ca'l to 
pleasure is disregarded ; — while the rapt soul 4ntrovcrt« 
ed — transported — dwells with unspeakable delight upon 
its consecrated recollection of all that is venerable, all 
that is sacred in the name of parent. At thi^ favored 
hour, how the heart swells at the thought of a mothers 
love ! The smiles, the kind words, the sympathy, the 
counsels, the prayers, the tears, — ^how fondly the mem- 
ory treasures them all up, and claims them for its own ' 
And though Death may have long since intruded, and 
consigned that gentle form to the cold earth, rudely 
sundering the cherished bonds of affection, and leaving 
the hearth-stone desolate, — ^though Change may have 
Drought strangers to fell the favorite tree, to remove the 
ancient landmarks, to lay waste the pleasant places, 
and even to tread thoughtlessly by the humble mound 
that marks the revered spot where " departed worth is 
laid," — though Time, *' with his effacing fingers," may 
have been busy in obliterating the impressions of child 
hood from the mind, or in burying them deeply beneath 
the rubbish of perplexing cares, — still the true heart 
never tires with the thought of a fond parent, nor ever 
ceases to " thank God upon every remembrance" of a 
pious, devoted mother ! 

Thus it should ever be. Nothing on earth should be 
allowed to claim the gratitude which is justly due to 
judicious parents But the faithful, devoted teacher 



THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHLK. 3^h 



T.^aohe. next to the parent.— Gratitude of parents.— Exaini le. 



the former of youthlul character and the guide ol 
youthful study, will be sure to have the neTt place in 
the grateful heart. Whether the young man treads the 
deck of the noble ship, in his lonely watch, as she 
proudly walks the waters by night, — or journeys among 
strangers in foreign lands; — wherever he goes, or how 
ever employed, — as often as his thoughts revisit the 
scenes of his childhood, and dwell with interest upon 
the events that marked his youthful progress, he will 
recur to the old familiar schoolhouse, call up its well 
remembered incidents — its joys and its sorrows — its 
trials and its triumphs — its all-pervading and ever- 
abiding influences, and devoutly thank God for the gift 
of a faithful, self denying, patient teacher. 

But the teacher is rewarded also by the gratitude ol 
parents and friends. Some of the sweetest moments a 
teacher ever experiences, are those when a parent 
takes him by the hand, and with cordial sincerity and 
deep emotion, thanks him for what he has done for his 
child. It may have been a wayward, thoughtless, 
perhaps a vicious boy, whom kind words and a warm 
heart, on the part of the teacher, have won back to the 
path of rectitude and virtue. 

I have seen an old lady — and I shall never forget the 
eight — bending under the infirmities of age, — blind, and 
yet dependent mainly upon her labor for support, 
invoking the richest of heaven's blessings upon the head 
of a teacher, who, by kindness and perseverance, had 
won back her wayward grandson to obedience and duty. 
How her ful^soul labored a? she described the change 



340 THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 

Widow's gratitude.— Approval of Heaven.— The Great Teacher. 

that had taken place ! Her emotion — loo deep for 
utterance in words — found expression only in tears that 
streamed from her sightless eyes ! She felt that her 
boy was again a child of hope and promise, and thai 
he might yet be a virtuous and a useful man. The 
world may raise its empty acclamation to honor the 
man of power and of fame, — it may applaud the states 
man and weave the chaplet for the conqueror's brow ; 
—but the teacher, humble and obscure though he may 
be, who is the object of the widow's gratitude for being 
the orphan's friend, with the consciousness of deserving 
it, is a happier, I had almost said a greater man 
Surely he receives a greater reward. 

Vll. The faithful teacher enjoys the approval oj 
Heaven. He is employed, if he has a right spirit, 
in a licavenly mission. He is doing his Heavenly 
Father's business. That man should be made wiser 
and happier, is the will of Heaven. To this end, the 
Son of God — The Great Teacher — came to bless our 
race. So far as the schoolmaster has the spirit of 
Jesus, he is engaged in the same great work. Heaven 
regards with complacency the humble efforts of the 
faithful teacher to raise his felloyv-beings from the 
darkness of ignorance and the slavery of superstition ; 
and if a more glorious crown is held in reserve for one 
rather than another, it is for him who, uncheered by 
worldly applause, and without the prospect of adequate 
reward from his fellow-men, cheerfully practises the 
self-denial of his maeler, spending his strength, and 
doing with dihgence and patience " whatsoever his 



THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 347 

L(M»i fotiugham.— Au epita{>h,— €ease repiaiup. 

hand findeth to do," towards raising his fellow-beings 
t3 happiness and heaven. 

It is such a teacher that the eloquent and gifted 
Lord Brougham describes in the following beautiful 
Unguage : 

** He meditates and prepares, in secret, the plans 
which are to bless mankind ; he slowly gathers around 
him those who are to further their execution, — he 
quietly, though firmly, advances in his humble path, 
laboring steadily, but calmly, till he has opened to the 
light all the recesses of ignorance, and torn up by the 
roots the weeds of vice. His progress is not to be 
compared with any thing Uke the march of the con- 
queror, — but it leads to a far more briUiant triumph 
and to laurels more imperishable than the destroyer of 
his species, the scourge of the world, ever won. Each 
one of these great teachers of the world, possessing his 
soul in peace, performs his appointed course, awaits in 
patience the fulfillment of the promises, and resting 
from his labors, bequeaths his memory to the genera- 
tion whom his works have blessed, and sleeps under 
the humble, but not ingloricus epitaph, commemorating 
' one in whom mankind lost a friend, and no man got 
fid of an enemy. ^ " 

In view of what has been said, let the teacher cease 
to repine at his hard lot. Let him cast an occa- 
sional glance at the bright prospect before him. He 
deserves, to be sure, a higher pecuniary reward than 
he receives ; and he should never cease to press this 



348 THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 



Magnify his office.— How?— Moral recomi>ens* 

truth upon the community, till talent in leaching is as 
well compensated as talent in any other calling. Bn\ 
whether he gains this or not, let him dwell upon liie 
privileges and rewards to be found in the caUing itself, 
and take fresh encouragement. 

The apostle Paul exhibited great wisdom when he 
said, " / magnify mine office^ If the foregoing views 
respecting the importance of the teacher's calling are 
correct, he may safely follow the apostle's example. 
This is not, however, to be done merely by boastful 
words. No man can elevate himself, or magnify his 
office in public estimation, by indulging in empty 
declamation, or by passing inflated resolutions. He 
must feel the dignity of his profession, and show that 
he feels it by luiremitted exertions to attain to the 
highest excellence of which he is capajjle, — animated, 
m the midst of his toil, chiefly by the great moral 
recompense which every faithful teacher may hope to 
receive. 

Let every teacher, then, study to improve himself 
intellectually and morally ; let him strive to advance in 
the art of teaching ; let him watch the growth of mind 
under his culture and take the encouragement which 
that afibrds ; let him consider the usefulness he may 
effect and the circumstances which make his calhng 
honorable ; let him prize the gratitude of his pupils 
and of their parents and friends ; and above all, let him 
value the approval of Heaven, and set a proper estimate 
upon the rewards which another world will unfold to 
him,-- and thus be encouraged to toil on in faithfulness 



THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 349 

Final nward. 

and in hope, — till, having finished his course, and being 
gathered to the home of the righteous, he shall meet 
multitudes, instructed by his wise precept, and profited 
by his pure example who " sliall rise up and call him 
blessed." 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

OF 

DAVID PERKINS PAGE, 

Taken from Barnard's Journal of Education. 



Amono the seif-educated teachers of our time, the men 
who, as was said of old, of poets, "were born, not made" 
teachers, and in whom the instinct for knowledge, and for im- 
parting it to others, was sufficiently strong to overpower all 
obstacles, and carry them to the highest eminence in their 
profession, there are none who have excelled the subject of 
this brief memoir. 

David Perkins Page was born at Epping, New Hamp- 
shire, on the 4th of July, 1810. His father was a prosperous, 
though not an affluent farmer, and his early life was passed 
as a farmer's boy, with that scant dole of instruction which 
forty years ago fell to the lot of farmers' sons in small coun- 
try villages in New Hampshire, or, for that matter, anywhere 
in New England. From his earliest years, however, the love 
of books was the master-passion of his soul, and in his child- 
hood he plead often and earnestly with his father for the priv- 
ilege of attending an academy in a neighboring town, but 
the father was inexorable ; he had determined that David 
should succeed him in the management of the farm, and he 
did not consider an academical education necessary for this. 
His refusal doubtless exerted a good influence on his son; 
for a mind so active as his, if denied the advantages of the 
school, must find vent in some exercise, and the admirable 
illustrations he drew from nature, so often, to embellish and 
enforce his instructions in after years, showed conclusively 
th^*. at this period of his life, the pages of the wondrous book 



352 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

of nature liad been wide open before him, even tbough Lis 
father's fiat had deprived him of other sources of informa- 
tion. 

But He who guides the steps of his creatures had provi- 
ded a way for the gratification of the thirst for knowledge 
v/hich was consuming the farmer's boy, and that by what 
seemed an untoward Providence. At the age of sixteen, h^ 
was brought to the borders of the grave by a severe illness; 
for a long time he lingered between life and death ; and, while 
in this condition, his friends despairing of his recovery, and 
his father, whose heart yearned over him, watching his en- 
feebled frame, seemingly nigh to dissolution, the apparently 
dying boy turned his large, full eyes upon his father's face, 
and, in an almost inaudible whisper, begged that if he re- 
covered, he might be allowed to go to Hampton Academy, 
and prepare to become a teacher. Was not this, indeed, an 
example of " the ruling passion strong in death ?" The fa- 
ther could not refuse the request proffered at such a time ; 
what father could ? The boy did recover, and he did go to 
the academy, a plain farmer's boy : he dressed in plain fann- 
er's clothes, and hence, some self-conceited puppies, whose 
more fashionable exterior could not hide the meanness of their 
souls, deemed him fit subject for their gibes and sneers; but 
Ills earnest nature and his intense love of study were not to 
be thwarted by such rebuffs ; he pursued the even tenor of 
his way, and, having spent some months at the academy, he 
taught a district school for the ensuing winter, and then re- 
turned again to the academy. Here his progress in study 
was rapid ; but, the ensuing winter, we find him again teach- 
ing in his native town, and his further studies were prosecuted 
without assistance. The next winter he had determined to 
make teaching a profession, and accordingly, having taught 
a district school at Newbury, Mass., during the winter, at its 
close he opened a private school : a daring step for a young 
man but nineteen years of age, and who had enjoyed so few 
advantages of education, but the success which followed fully 
justified the self-reliance which led him to attempt it. At 
the beginning he had five pupils, but he persevered, and be- 
fore the close of the term, the number he had contemplated 
was full. Here, as everywhere else, during his career as a 
teacher, was manifested that diligence, industry, and carefui 
preparation for his duties, which made him so eminently sue 
cessful. He studied the lessons he was to teach, thorougrh 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 353 

/y, that he might impart instruction with that fieshness and 
interest which such study would give ; he studied his scholars 
thoroughly, that he might adapt his teachings to their seve- 
ral capacities, encouragmg the diffident and sluggish, restrain- 
ing the froward, and rousing the listless and careless to un- 
wonted interest and energy ; he studied, too, their moral 
natures, and sought to rouse in their youthful hearts aspirations 
for goodness and purity ; and he studied whatever would en 
large his sphere of thought, intelligence, and usefulness. 

Such a teacher was sure to rise in reputation, — slowly, per 
haps, but certainly ; and hence it need not surprise us to learn 
that within two years he was associate principal of the New- 
buryport High School, having charge of the English depart- 
ment. Here, for twelve years, he was associated with Roger 
S. Howard, Esq., one of the most eminent teachers in Mas- 
sachusetts, and how well he fulfilled his duties, Mr. Howard, 
who survived him, testifies. The same intense fondness for 
study characterized him, leading him to acquire a very com- 
petent knowledge of the Latin language, and something of 
the Greek ; that same earnest and conscientious performance 
of all his school duties, and delight in them, was manifested 
here as in his humbler position. It was while occupying 
this post, that he first began to come before the public as a 
lecturer. He was an active and prominent member of the 
Essex County Teacher's Association, one of the most efficient 
educational organizations in Massachusetts, and delivered be- 
fore that body several lectures which Hon. Horace Mann 
characterized as the best ever delivered before that or any 
other body.. Of one of these, on "TAe Mutual Duties of Pa- 
rents and Teachers^'' six thousand copies were printed and 
distributed (3000 of them at Mr. Mann's expense) through- 
out the State. Mr. Page's powers as an orator and debater 
were of a very high order; he possessed, says Mr. Mann 
(himself an orator of no mean powers), " that rare quality, so 
indispensable to an orator, the 'power to think ^ standing on 
hisfeet^ and before folksy As a teacher, he exhibited two 
valuable qualifications : the ability to turn the attention of 
bis pupils to the principles which explain facts, and in such 
a way that they could see clearly the connection ; and the 
talent for reading the character of his scholars, so accurately, 
that he could at once discern what were their governing 
passions and tendencies, what in them needed encourage- 
ment, and what repression. Thus, useful, active, and grow 



1^54 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETOil. 

ing in reputation, Mr. Page remained at Newburyport, till 
December, 1844. 

■ In the winter preceding, the legislature of New York, 
wearied with the costly but unsuccessful measures which, 
year after year, had been adopted for the improvement of her 
public schools, had appointed a committee of their own body, 
warm friends of education, to visit the normal schools of Mas- 
sachusetts, and make a report thereon. The committee at- 
tended to their duties, and made an elaborate report in favor of 
the adoption of the normal school system. That report was 
adopted, and an appropriation of ten thousand dollars outfit 
and ten thousand dollars per annum, for five years, was 
voted, to establish a normal school as an experiment. The 
friends of education in New York felt that, liberal as this 
appropriation was, every thing depended upon securing the 
right man to take charge of it, and long and carefully did 
thuy ponder the question, who that man should be. 

Mr. Page's reputation had already outrun the town and the 
county in which he resided; and, on the recommendation 
of Hon. Horace Mann, and other friends of education in Mas- 
sachusetts, Dr. (afterward Bishop) Potter, Col. Young, and 
other members of the executive committee, entered into cor- 
respondence with him on the subject. In reply to the first 
communication, he addressed numerous inquiries to the com- 
mittee, concerning the plan proposed for the organization 
and management of the school. 

These questions were so pointed and so well chosen, that Col. 
Young, on hearing them, at once exclaimed, " That is the man 
we need," and expressed himself entirely satisfied, without any 
further evidence. So cautious, however, were the commit- 
tee, that it was decided that, before closing the negotiation, 
Dr. Potter should visit Newburyport, and have a personal 
interview with Mr. Page. He accordingly repaired thither, 
called at Mr. Page's residence, and found him in his every- 
day dress, and engaged in some mechanical work connect- 
ed with the improvement of his dwelling. An interview of 
a single halt' hour so fully prepossessed him with Mr. "Page's 
personal bearing and conversation, that he at once closed 
the negotiations with him, and secured his services as Prin- 
cipal of the New York State Normal School. 

Mr. Page closed his connection with the Newburyport 
High School about the middle of December, 1844, not 
^i<-hout numberless demonstrations of regret and affectionate 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 355 

regjtrd on the part of his pupils and friends. While on his 
way to Albany, he spent a night with Mr. Mann, in Boston, 
and the new duties he was about to undertake, the obstacles 
and difficulties, the opposition and misrepresentations he 
would meet, and the importance and necessity of success, 
formed themes of converse which occupied them till the 
early morning hours ; in parting, Mr. Mann said to Mr. 
Page, as a veteran commander might have said to a 
youthful officer going to lead a forlorn hope, " Succeed or 
die." The words sank deep into his heart ; they were 
adopted as his motto in the brief but brilliant career which 
followed, and once, on recovering from a dangerous illness, he 
reminded his friend of his injunction, and added, " I thought 
T was about to fulfill your last alternative." lie arrived at 
Albany a few days before the commencement of the " experi- 
ment," as the Normal School was designated, and found 
every thing in a chaotic state ; the rooms intended for its 
accommodation, yet unfinished ; there was no organization, 
no apparatus, and indeed very few of the appliances necessary 
to a successful beginning ; while the few were hoping, though 
not without fear, for its success, and the many were proph 
esying its utter failure. From this chaos, the systematic 
mind of Mr. Page soon evolved order : full of hope and con- 
fident of the success of the Normal School system himself, he 
infused energy and courage into the hearts of its desponding 
friends, and caused its enemies to falter, as they saw how all 
obstacles yielded to the fascination of his presence, or the 
power of his will. The school commenced with twenty-five 
scholars, but ere the close of its first term, the number had 
increased to one hundred. At the commencement of the 
second term, two hundred assembled for instruction. From 
this time its course was onward ; every term increased its 
popularity ; and the accommodations provided for it, large aa 
they were, were soon crowded. For the first three years, it 
had to contend with numerous and unscrupulous foes, some of 
whom attacked the system, others its practical workings, 
others still, who were strangers to his person, attacked the 
character of the principal of the school. Meantime, Mr. 
Page labored indefatigably : against the assaults upon the 
organization, or its practical operations, he interposed able, 
manly, and courteous defenses ; those which were leveled at 
himself, he bore in silence ; but no man, whatever his posi- 
tion in the State, and however bitter might have been his 



356 BIOGRAPHICAL SEETCH. 

hostility to the school, or to its principal, ever came within the 
magnetism of his presence and influence without being changed 
from an enemy into a friend. Among the most decided, as 
well as the most conscientious opposers of the Normal School 
was the Hon. Silas Wright ; indeed, in his election as gov- 
ernor, the enemies of the school claimed a triumph, and 
counted largely on his eminent abilities to aid them in put- 
ting it down, but a very few months' residence in Albany 
converted this man, of strong and determined will, into one oi 
its sincerest friends. During the vacations of the school, 
Mr. Page gave himself no rest ; he visited different parts of 
the State, attended teachers' institutes, lectured day after day, 
and, wherever he went, removed prejudices, cleared up doubts, 
and won golden opinions. Every such visit drew a large 
number of pupils to the school, from the section visited, the 
ensuing term. The State superintendent was accustomed to say 
"that he needed only to look at the catalogue of the Normal 
School, to tell where Mr. Page had spent his vacations. 

Before four years had passed, the school had ceased to be 
an " experiment ;" it was too firmly rooted in the hearts of 
the people to be abandoned, and the opposition, which had 
at first been so formidable, had dwindled into insignificance. 
But the toil requisite to accomplish this had been too arduous 
for any constitution, however vigorous, to endure. The au- 
tumnal term of 1847 found hira cheerful and hopeful as ever, 
but with waninar physical strength ; he sought (an nnusual 
thing for him) the aid of his colleagues in the performance 
of duties he had usually undertaken alone, and at length con- 
sented to take a vacation of a week or two during the Christ- 
mas holidays. Alas ! the relaxation came too late ; the even- 
ing before he was to leave, there was a meeting of the faculty 
at his residence; he was ch3erful, but complained of slight 
indisposition, and retired early. With the night, however, 
came violent fever and restlessness, and by the morning light 
the physicians in attendance pronounced the disease pneumo- 
nia. At first, the attack excited little alarm, but it soon be- 
came evident that his overtasked vital powers had not the 
ability to resist the violence of the disorder. On the fourth 
day, he expressed to a friend his conviction that he should 
not recover. The severity of the disease soon increased, 
and, on the morning of January 1st, 1848, he passed away. 

Six months before his death, he had, in company with one 
of his colleagues, made a brief visit to his former home, 



BIOGKAPHIOAL SKETCH. 357 

at Newburyport ; and, while visiting the beautiful cemetery- 
there, he stopped suddenly near a shadv spot, and said, 
*' Here is where I desire to be buried." The sad funeral train 
which bore the clay that once had been his earthly habita- 
tion from Albany to Newburyport, laid it sadly, yet hopeful- 
ly, in that quiet nook, to repose till the archangel's trump 
shall be heard, and the dead be raised. 

His life had been short, as men count time ; he lacked 
six months of completing his thirty-eighth year when he was 
Rummoned to the better land ; but, if life be reckoned by 
what is accomplished, then had his life been longer far than 
that of the antediluvian patriarchs. Of the hundreds of teach- 
ers who were under his care at Albany, there was not one 
who did not look up to him with admiration and love ; not 
one who did not bear, to some extent, at least, the impress 
of his character and influence ; and it is doing no injustice to 
those who have so worthily succeeded him, to say that a very 
large part of the progress which the Empire State has made 
in the cause of education, during the past ten years, has 
been from the reflex influence of his spirit and teachings upon 
those who were his pupils. 

Nor is this influence confined to New York ; other Statea 
feel it : even now, men who were trained under him at Albany 
are occupying high positions in the cause of education in sev- 
eral of the Western States ; and gifted women, who, under his 
teachings, were moved to consecrate themselves to the holy 
duty of training the young, are now at the head of semina- 
ries and female schools of high order, extending his influence 
in widening circles over the boundless prairies of the West. 

Our brief narrative exhibits, we think, clearly what were 
the marked traits of Mr. Page's character — industry, perseve- 
rance, decision, energy, great executive ability, ready tact, 
and conscientious adherence to what he regarded as duty 
But no language can describe the fascination of his manner, 
the attraction of his presence, his skill in what he was accus- 
tomed to call the drawing-out process, or his tact in making 
all his knowledge available. His familiar le(;tures to his pu- 
pils on subjects connected with the teacher's life and duties, 
could they be published, would form an invaluable hand-book 
for teachers. He possessed, beyond most men, the happy 
taient of alwai/s saying the right thing at the right time. In 
personal appearance, Mi-. Page was more than ordinarily pre- 
possessing— of good height, and fine form, erect, and digni- 



358 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

fied in manner, scrupulously neat in person, and easy in ad- 
dress, he was a living model to his pupils of what a teacher 
should be. Aside from a few lectures, published at differ- 
ent times, to some of which we have already alluded, Mr. 
Page left but one published work — '''The Theory and Pi-ac- 
tice of Teoching^l'' a work which has had a large circulatioB^ 
and one which no teacher can afford to be without. 



TIDS IS3D 



BARNES'S POPULAR HISTORY 
OF THE UNITED STATES. 



By the author of Barnes's "Brief Histories for Schools." Complete in one superb 
royal octavo volume of 800 pages. Illustrated with 320 wood engravings and 14 steel 
plates, covering the period from the Discovery of America to the Accession of President 
Arthur. 

Part I. Colonial Settlement ; Exploration ; Conflict ; Manners ; Customs ; Educa- 
tion ; Religion, &c., &c., until political differences with Great Britain threatened open 
rupture. 

Part II. Resistance to the Acts of Parliament ; Resentment of British Policy, and 
the Succeeding War for American Independence. 

Part III. From the Election of President Washington to that of President Lincoln, 
with the expansion and growth of the Republic ; its Domestic Issues and its Foreign 
Policv. 

Part IV. The Civil War and the End of Slavery. 

Part V. The New Era of the Restored Union ; with Measures of Reconstmction ; 
the Decade of Centennial Jubilation, and the Accession of President Arthur to Office. 

Appendix. Declaration of Independence ; The Constitution of the United States 
and its Amendments ; Chronological Table and Index ; Illustrated History of the 
Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia. 

The wood and steel engravings have been expressly chosen to illustrate the customs of 
the periods reviewed in the text. Ancient houses of historic note, and many portraits of 
early colonists, are thus preserved, while the elaborate plans of the Exposition of 1876 
are fully given. The political characteristics of great leaders and great parties, which 
had been shaped very largely by the issues which belonged to slavery and slave labor, 
have been dealt with in so candid and impartial a manner as to meet the approval of 
all sections of the American people. The progress of science, invention, literature, and 
art is carefully noted, as well as that of the national physical growth, thus condensing 
into one volume material which is distributed through several volumes in larger works. 
Outline maps give the successive stages of national expansion, and special attention 
has been given to those battles, by land and sea, which have marked the military growth 
of the republic. ^W^ Specially valuable for reference in schools and households. 



Frmn Prof. F. F. Barrows, Brown School, 
Hartford, Conn. 
" Barnes's Popular History has been in 
our reference library for two years. Its 
concise and interesting presentation of 
historical facts causes it to be so eagerly 
read by our pupils, that we are obliged to 
duplicate it to supply the demand for its 
use." 

From Hon. John R. Buck. 
" I concur in the above." 

From Hon. J. C. Stockwell. 
"I heartily concur with Mr. Barrows in 
the within commendation of ' Barnes's 
Popular History,' as a very interesting and 
instructive book of reference." 
From A. Morse, Esq. 
"I cordially concur in the above." 
From Rev. Wm. T. Gage, 

"I heartily agree with the opinions 
above expressed." 

From David Crart, Jr. 

"The best work for the purpose pub- 
lished." 



From Prof. S. T. Dutton, Superintendent 
of Schools, New Haven, Conn. 

" It seems to me to be one of the best 
and most attractive works of the kind I 
have ever seen, and it will be a decided 
addition to the little libraries which we 
have already started in our larger 
schools." 

From Prof. Wm. Martin, of Beattystown, 
N. J. 
"This volume is well adapted to the 
wants of the teacher. A concise, well- 
arranged summary of events, and just the 
supplement needed by every educator who 
teaches American history," 

From Prof, C. T. R. Smith, Principal of 
the Lansingburgh, N. Y., Academy. 

"In the spring I procured a copy of 
' Barnes's Popular History of the United 
States,' and have used it daily since, in 
preparing my work with my clasps in Ameri- 
can history, with constantly increasing 
admiration at the clearness, fairness, and 
vividness of its style and judicious selec- 
tion of matter." 



Prices. Cloth, plain edge, $5.00; cloth, richly embossed, gilt edge, $6.00; sheep, 
marble edge, $7.00 ; half calf, $8.00 ; half morocco, §8.00 ; full morocco, gilt, i^lO.OO. 

3 



SCHOOL AND COLLEGE TEXT-BOOKS. 

■' ■ » 

The National Series Readers and Spellers, 



THE NATIONAL READERS. 

By PARKER and WATSON. 

No. I. — National Primer . . . 
No. 2. — National First Reader . 
No. 3. — National Second Reader 
No. 4. — National Third Reader 
No. 5. — National Fourth Reader 
No. 6. — National Fifth Reader . 



National Elementary Speller 
National Pronouncing Speller 



. . . GJi.'pV 


16"" 


, , , 128 " 


W 


, , , 22Jf. " 


W 


. . . 288 " 


12 "" 


. . . 4S2 " 


12 "" 


. . . 600 " 


12 "" 


. , , 160 pp. 


i^° 


, . , 188 " 


12° 



THE INDEPENDENT READERS. 

By J. MADISON WATSOII. 



The Independent First (pHnLr.) Reader 


80 pp 


.16° 


The Independent Seoond Reader . 


. . 160 " 


W 


The Independent Third Reader 


. . 240 " 


^16° 


The Independent Fourth Reader . 


. . 264 " 


12° 


The Independent Fifth Reader . . . 


. 336 " 


12° 


The Independent Sixth Reader . . 


. . 47i " 


12° 


The Independent Complete Speller 


. 162 " 


16° 



The Independent Child's Speller (Script) 80 pp. 16° 
The Independent Youth's Speller (aSVzjo^) 168 " 12° 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 

WATSON'S INDEPENDENT 
READERS. 



This Series is designed to meet a general demand for smaller and cheaper 
books than the National Series proper^^and to serve as well for intermediate 
volumes of the National Readers in large graded schools requiring more books 
than one ordinary series will supply. 

Beauty. — The most casual observer is at once impressed with the impar- 
alleled mechanical beauty of the Independent Readers. The Publishers be- 
lieve that the aesthetic tastes of children may receive no small degree of 
cultivation from their very earliest school-books, to say nothing of the impor- 
tance of making study attractive by all such artificial aids that are legitimate. 
In accordance with this view, not less than $25,000 was expended in their 
preparation before publishing, with a result which entitles them to be con- 
sidered "the perfection of common-school books." 

Selections. — They contain, of course, none but entirely new selections. 
These are arranged according to a strictly progressive and novel method of 
developing the elementary sounds in order in the lower numbers, and in all, 
with a view to topics and general literary style. The mind is thus led in fixed 
channels to proficiency in every branch of good reading, and the evil results of 
** scattering," as practised by most school-book authors, avoided. 

The Illustrations, as may be inferred from what has been said, are ele- 
gant beyond comparison. They are profuse in every number of the series, from 
the lowest to the highest. This is the only series published of which this 
is true. 

The Type is semi-phonetic, the invention of Professor Watson. By it every 
letter having more than one sound is clearly distinguished in all its variations 
without in any way mutilating or disguising the normal form of the letter. 

Elocution is taught by prefatory treatises of constantly advancing grade 
and completeness in each volume, which are illustrated by woodcuts in the 
lower books, and by blackboard diagrams in the higher. Professor Watson 
is the first to introduce practical illustrations and blackboard diagrams for 
teaching this branch. 

Foot-Notes on every page afford all the incidental instruction which the 
teacher is usually required to impart. Indices of words refer the pupil to the 
place of their first use and definition. The biographies of authors and others 
are in every sense excellent. 

Economy. — Although the number of pages in each volume is fixed at the 
minimum, for the purpose recited above, the utmost amount of matter avail- 
able without overcrowding is obtained in the space. ' The pages are much 
wider and larger than those of any competitor and contain twenty per cent 
more matter than any other series of the same type and number of pages. 

All the Great Features. — Besides the above all the popular features of 
the National Readers are retained except the word-building system. The 
latter gives place to an entirely new method of progi-essive development, based 
npon some of the best features of the word system, phonetics, and object 

6 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 

PARKER & WATSON'S NATIONAL 
READERS. 



The salient features of these works which have combined to render them so popular 
may be briefly recapitulated, as follows : — 

1. THE WORD-BUILDING SYSTEM. — This famous progressive method 
for young children originated and was copyriglited with these books. It constitutes a 
process with which tlie beginner with words of one letter is gradually introduced to 
additional lists formed by prefixing or affixing single letters, and is thus led almost 
insensibly to the mastery of the more difficult constructions. This is one of the most 
striking modern improvements in methods of teaching. 

2. TREATMENT OF PRONUNCIATION. — The wants of the youngest 
scholars in this department are not overlooked. It may be said that from the first 
lesson the student by this method need never be at a loss for a prompt and accurate 
rendering of every word encountered. 

3. ARTICULATION AND ORTHOEPY are considered of primary impoiiance. 

4. PUNCTUATION is inculcated by a series of interesting reading lessons, the 
simple perusal of which suffices to fix its principles indelibly upon the mind. 

5. ELOCUTION. —Each of the higher Readers (3d, 4th, and 5th) contains elabo- 
rate, scholarly, and thoroughly practical treatises on elocution. This feature alone has 
secured for the series many of its warmest friends. 

6. THE SELECTIONS are the crowning glory of the series. Without excep- 
tion it may be said that no volumes of the same size and character contain a collection 
so diversified, judicious, and artistic as this. It embraces the choicest gems of Eng- 
lish literature, so arranged as to afford the reader ample exercise in every department 
of style. So acceptable has the taste of the authors iu this department proved, not 
only to the educational public but to the reading community at large, that thousands 
of copies of the Fourth and Fifth Readers have found their way into public and private 
libraries throughout the country, where they are in constant use as manuals of litera- 
ture, for reference as weU as perusal. 

7. ARRANGEMENT. — The exercises are so arranged as to present constantly 
alternating practice in .tlie different styles of composition, while observing a definite 
plan of progression or gradation throughout the whole. In the higher books the 
articles are placed in formal sections and classified topically, thus concentrating the 
interest and inculcating a principle of association likely to prove valuable in subse- 
quent general reading. 

8. NOTES AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — These are full and ade- 
quate to every want. The biographical sketches present in pleasing style the history of 
every author laid under contribution. 

g. ILLUSTRATIONS. — These are plentiful, almost profuse, and of the highest 
character of art. They are found in every volume of the series as far as and including 
the Third Reader. 

10. THE GRADATION is perfect. Each volume overlaps its companion pre- 
ceding or following in the series, so that the scholar, in passing from one to another, is 
only conscious, by the presence of the new book, of the transition. 

11. THE PRICE is reasonable. The National Readers contain more matter than 
any other series in the same number of volumes published. Considering their com- 
pleteness and thoroughness, they are much the cheapest in the market. 

12. BINDING. — By the use of a material and process known only to themselves, 
in common with all the piiblications of this house, the National Readers are warranted 
to outlast any with which they may be compared, the ratio of relative durability 
being in their favor as two to one. 



r»£ fSATlONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



SUPPLEMENTARY READING. 



Monteith's Popular Science Reader, 

James MoDiteitli, auth-er of If onteith's Geographies, has here preseated a Supple- 
mentary JBeadiffig Book exptessly for the work of instructiou m leadiag and science at 
one and Uie same time. £t preseats a auoiberof easy and interesting lessons on Natural 
Science and Natural History, interspersed with appropriate sdectioos in prose and 
poetry from standard authors, with blackboard drawing and writtea eseercises. It 
serves to instil the noblest qualities of soai and naiad, without rehearsing stories of 
moral and mental depravity, as is too often done in |uvenite books. The book is elabo- 
rately iiitista-ated with fine engravings, and brief notes at the foot of each page add to 
the value and teachableness of the volume. I2nio, half bound, 360 pages. 

The Standard Supplementary Readers, 

The Standard Supplementary Readers {foraterly SwitUen's Supplementary Readers), 
edited by William Swinton and George R. Cathcart, have been received with marked 
favor in representative quarters ftrom Maine to Calilfornia. They comprise a series of 
carefully graduated reading books, designed to connect with any series of school Readers. 
They are attractive in appearance, are bound in cloth, and the first four books are 
profusely illustrated by Fredericks, White, Dielman, Church, and others. The six books, 
which are closely co-ordinated with the several Readers of any regular series, aae : — 

1. "ESLSY Steps for Xiittle Feet. Supplementary to First Reader. 

In this book the attractive is the chief aim, and the pieces have been written and 
chosen with special reference to the feelings and feincies of early childhood. 128 pages, 
bound in cloth and profusely illustrated. 

2. Golden Book of Choice Beadix^. Supplementary to Second 

Reader. 
This book represents a ^reat variety of pleasing and instructive reading, consisting of 
child-lore and poetry, nobl« examples and attractive object-reading, writtea specially for it. 
192 pages, cloth, with numerous illustrations 

3 Book of Tales. Being School Readings Imaginative and Emotional. 
Supplementary to Third Reader. 
In this book the youthful taste for imaginative and emotional is fed with pure and noble 
creations drawn from the literature of all nations. 272 pages, cloth. Fully illustrated. 

4. Readings in Nature's Book. Supplementary to Fourth Reader. 
This book contains a varied collection of charming readings in natural history and 

botany, drawn from the works of the great modern naturalists and travellers. 852 pages, 
«loth. Fully illustrated. 

5. Seven American Classics. 

6. Seven British Classics. 

The *' Classics " are suitable for reading in advanced grades, and aim to instil a, 
taste for the higher literature, by the presentation of gems of British and Ameificaa 
authorship 220 pages each, cloth. 

8 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 

Smith's Series. 

Smith's Series supplies a Speller for every class in graded schools, and comprises 
the most complete and excellent treatise on £nglish Orthography and its companion 
branches extant. 

1. Smith's liittle Speller. 

Plrst round in the ladder of learning, 

2. Smith's Juvenile Definer. 

Lessons comjwsed of familiar words grouped 'vrith reference to similar significa- 
tion or use, and correctly spelled, accented, and defined. 

3. Smith's Grammar-School Speller. 

Familiar words, grouped with reference to the sameness of sound of syllables dif- 
ferently spelled. Also definitions, complete rules for spelling and formation of deriva- 
tives, and exercises in false orthography. 

4. Smith's Speller and Definer's Manual. 

A complete School Dictionary, containing 14,000 wor<*', with vanous other useful 
matter in the way of rules and exercises. 

6. Smith's Etymology ~ Small and Complete Editions. 

The first and only Etymology to recognize the Anglo-Saacon our mother tongue; 
containing also full lists of derivatives from the Latin, Greek, Gaelic, Swedish, Norman, 
&C. , &c. ; being, in fact, a complete etymology of the language for schools. 

Northend's Dictation Exercises. 

Embracing valuable information on a thousand topics, communicated in such a 
manner as at once to relieve the exercise of spelling of its usual tedium, and combine 
It with instruction of a general character calculated to profit and amuse. 

Phillip's Independent Writing Spellert*- 

1. Primary. 2. Intermediate. 3. Advanced. 

Unquestionably the best results can be attained in writing spelling exercises. This 
series combines with written exercise a thorough and practical instruction in penman- 
ship. Copies in capitals and small letters are set on every page. Spaces for twenty 
words and definitions and eiTors are given in each lesson. In the advanced book there 
Is additional space for sentences. In practical life we spell only when we write. 

Brown's Pencil Tablet for Written Spelling. 

The cheapest prepared pad of rided blanks, with stiff board back, sufficient for 
64 lessons of 25 words. 

Pooler's Test Speller. 

The best collection of " hard words " yet made. The more uncommon ones are fully 
defined, and the whole are arranc/ed alphabetically for convenient reference. The book 
is designed for Teachers' Institutes and " Spelling Schools," and is prepared by an 
experienced and well-known conductor of Institutes, 

Wright's Analytical Orthography. 

This standard work is popular, because it teaches the elementary sounds in a 
plain and philosophical manner, and i)reBeatb orthography and orthoepy in an easy, 
uuiiomi syatein of analysia or pamjit^. 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



OaTHOGRAPHY — Continued. 

Barber's Complete Writing Speller. 

" The Student's Own Hand-Book of Orthography, Definitions, and Sentenc«M, con- 
sisting of Written Exercises In tlie Proj)er Spelling, Meaning, ajid Use of Words. " 
(Published 1873. ) This differs from Sherwood's and other writsag spellers in its more 
comprehensive character. Its blanks are adapted to writing whole sentences instead 
of detached words, with the proper divisions for numbering, connections, &c. Such 
aids as this, like Watson's Child's Spdler and PtuJlip^s Writing Si>eller, find their 
raisoit <r<etr& in the postulate that the art of correct spelling is dependent upon WTitteti, 
and not upon sj)oken language, for its ulility, if aot for its very <ezisteaoe. ~ 
the ii2dJie(^iiess o£ pureij oral insi^aciaum^ 



ETYMOLOGY- 

Smith's Complete Etymology. 
Smith's Condensed Et3niiology, 

Containing the Anglo-Saxon, Preneh, Dutch, Gennan, Welsli, DamlRli, OotMe, Swedl^, 
Gaelic, Italian, Lattn, and Greek roots, akd the Fjnglis^ words derived tJii^eftoia 
accujateiy speiied, aeoeated, aad d^Jied. 

From HoK. Jsro, G, McMvissr, ledSe SbeOe 

Superbtkmiie^t af Wisconsiu. 

*' I wish every teaeh*^ ia He eoantry 
had a copy of this work." 



From Peof, C- H. Vebrixl, Pa. SteUe 

N&rmail iaxAmA. 

"The Etymology (Smith's) sdiich we 
procured of you we like much. It is the 
best work for tbe ckasS'Sxasmi. w^ h&ve 



Fmm. Panff. Wat P. Fwzfjes, Mm*. StaU 

NormaL 

"Tl»e book is superb — just wliat is 
need«d iu the departoaeiit ef etymolo^ 
and speJlii^*' 

Ckm.m<m Sehmls, State of Maine. 

* The author lias furnished a maROol tit 
singular aitility for its puipose. " 



DICTIONARY. 

W^illiams's Dictionary of Synonymes ; 

Or, Topical Lexioos. This work is a Schod DicticMiary, an Etymc^ogy, a compilation 

of Synonynses, aadA ina&uai of General fiafoiHiatioo- Itdiflfersfrom the ordinary lexicon 
in being arraaged by topics, instead of the letters of the alphabet, thus realizing the 
apparent pauradox of a *' Readable Dictiosiary." Asl unasnaJly vaiuaJsie £chool-book. 

Kwong*s Dictionary of English Phrases, 

"With Illustrative Sentemoes, colkctioas of Engiish and Chinese Provcrl^, translar 
tions of Latin and French Phc&ses, historical sketch of the Chiitese Empire, a chFono- 
logical list of tAie, Chiuese Dynasties, brief biogmphical sketches of Confucius and 
o( Jesus, aad caiiiplete index. By Kwong Ki Chi«, late Member of the Chinese Edu- 
cational Mission in the Ouited States, and formerly principal teadser of English in the 
Govemiaeat School at Shanghai, Cbiaa. 90® piges. 8vo. Ooth. 

From the Hartjord CkiK^xnai: " The voluEae is one of the most curious and lnte*esfc- 
ing of linguistic works.** 

Prom the New York Nation : " It will ainaze the sand-lot gentry to be Informed that 
£bis j^jEoarkabJe wo£k wiil sup^ilsaietU eur Englisi dietimaries eeae» for motive AmunoButs." 

10 



THE MATfOflAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCfTOQL-BOOKS. 



ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



SILL'S SYSTErvr. 
Practical I-.esscms in English. 

A brief course- in Grammas and Ceaapestiaa. Ejr J. M. H Ssi^t^ TMs beautiful 
book, by a distingmshsd aB(3 expejimss^ tsaefeer, at once adapted for excinsiv& use 
in the State oS &seg(m and the eity of Detroit, simplj releases Englisls Qjsmmar 
from bondagef to LaitiEs asd Greek Sbimu^s. Our lassguage; is; worthy e*" besEg taught 
as a distinct arid indepeucSrait science. It is* almosit destitute of infieetioos sasd yet; 
capable of beii^ systeumtizsd^ and its; study may CCTtainly be simirfiSed if tBested by 
itself and for itself alone. Superintendent Siu:. has cut the GcsdiaD kopem^ ao^ leadis 
the van ol a bsw sehsocJ ef grammariaos. 

CLARK'S SYSTEIVT. 
Clark's Easy Lessons In Lranguage 

Contains illustrated object-lessons of the most attractive chaTSCtesr, artS fs coached 
in language freed as much as possible from the dry techmeaMtie» oi thi sei^aeiR. 

Clark's Brief English Grammar. 

Part I. is adapted to- youngest learner^ and the whci& forms a eonsplete " brief 
course " in one volume, adequate to the wanfe of Qte comnaon school, Tfoe^e is no- 
where published a superior text-book for leamiE^ ttie Engjiah tcsague thaia tMs. 

Clark's Normal Grammar. 

Designed to occupy the same gmde as tk© author's veterara ** Practical *" Grammar, 
though the latter is ^iE furnished upon order, flie NoriEial is; ao eotirefy new treatiseL 
It is a full espo^tioG of tbe ^^em as descsibed beJos^r, with aB the most recent im- 
X>roveraents:. Sbme of its peculiarities are, — a happy WencHr^ <rf Svnthesbs with 
Analyses; tlioirough criticisms of c&rtsmoTs errors in the use of oor ianguiage; and 
important insprovements in the syntax of sentence; and of pbrasea 

Clark's Key to the Diagrams. 

Clark's Analysis of the English L.angiiage. 

Clark's Grammatical Chart. 

The theory and practice of teaching gransmair ira Americais stshools is mtseting "wffch a 
thorough revoiutioas irons the use of this systean^ While the old method offer profi- 
ciency to the pupii raaly after much weary plodding and duD memoriziug, this affords 
from the inc^tfras the advant^e of practical OJtJeef Teadiing^ addressing the eye by 
means of iltuslrative :%Kres ; fornixes a^ociation to the meirjcsy, its most powerful 
aid, and divots th^psupil by taxing bis ingenuity- Teachers who- are nsir^ CJark's 
Grammar uniformly testify that they and tb^r pcspife firsd it the most iHtesresting studiy 
of the school cours©. 

Like all great and radical imp^ovenjeirt^ tbs' system BaFturaKy n^^ at Srsfr wrth n>ucb 
unreasonable opiXKitiort It has not only outlived the greater psrt of this opposition^ 
but finds many of its warmest admirers among^ those Avho could not at ffrst tolerate so> 
radical an inrtevation. AB it wants is an impartial trial to convince the roost scep- 
tical of its naerit. Ko one who has fairly and intenigeBtlj tested it ij^ the school-roonu 
has ever been known to go back to the old n>€?thod. A great success is already 
established, and it is easy to prophesy that the day is no* far distant when it will he 
the only system of tmsMjig Eng^sh ffrcmcmctr. As the Ststess is copyrighted, no ethei 
text-books can appropriate this obvious and great improvement. 

Welch's Analysis of the English Sentence. 

Remarkable for its new and simple classification, its method of treating eosuse^Tea. 
its explanatiems of the idioms aod. coskstruetzve laws of tke Langua@e, &£;, 

u 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 

GEOGRAPHY. 

MONTEITH'S SYSTEM. 

TWO-BOOK SERIES. INDEPENDENT COURSE. 

Elementary Geography. 

Comprehensive Geography (with 103 maps). 

m^^ These volumes are not revisions of old works, not an addition to any series, 
but are entirely new productions, — each by itself complete, independent, comprehen- 
sive, yet simple, brief, cheap, and popular ; or, taken together, the most admirable 
" series " ever offered for a common-school course. They present the following features, 
skilfully interwoven, the student learning all about one country at a time. Always 
revised to date of printing. 

LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. — Or, the Use of Maps. Important features of the maps 
are the coloring of States as objects, and the ingenious system for laying down a much 
larger number of names for reference than are found on any other maps of same size, 
and without crowding. 

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.— Or, the Natural Features of the Earth; illus- 
trated by the original and striking relief maps, being bird's-eye views or photographic 
pictures of the earth's surface. 

DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY. — Including the Physical; with some account 
of Governments and Races, Animals, &c. 

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY. — Or, a brief summaiy of the salient points of 
history, explaining the present distribution of nations, origin of geographical 
names, &c. 

MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. — Including Astronomical, which describes 
the Earth's position and character among planets ; also the Zones, Parallels, &c. 

COMPARATIVE GEOGRAPHY. — Or, a system of analogy, connecting new 
lessons with the previous ones. Comparative sizes and latitudes are shown on the 
margin of each map, and all countries are measured in the " frame of Kansas." 

TOPICAL GEOGRAPHY. — Consisting of questions for review, and testing 
the student's general and specific knowledge of the subject, with suggestions for 
geographical compositions. 

ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY. — A section devoted to this subject, with maps, will 
be appreciated by teachers. It is seldom taught in our common schools, because it 
has heretofore required the purchase of a separate book. 

GRAPHIC GEOGRAPHY, or Map-Drawing by Allen's "Unit of Measure- 
ment" system (now almost universally recognized as without a rival), is introduced 
throughout the lessons, and not as an appendix. 

CONSTRUCTIVE GEOGRAPHY. — Or, Globe-Making. With each book a set 
of map segments is furnished, with which each student may make his own globe by 
following the directions given. 

RAILROAD GEOGRAPHY. — With a grand commercial map of the United 
States, illustrating .steamer and railroad routes of travel in the United States, submarine 
telegraph linds, &c. Also a " Practical Tour in Europe." 



MONTEITH AND McNALLY'S SYSTEM. 

THREE AND FIVE BOOKS. NATIONAL COURSE. 

Monteith's First Lessons in Geography. 
Monteith's New Manual of Geography. 
McNally's System of Geography. 

The new edition of McNally's Geography is now ready, rewritten throughout by 
James Monteith and S. C. Frost. In its new dress, printed from new type, and illus- 
trated with 100 new engravings, it is the latest, most attractive, as weU as the most 
thoroughly practical book on geography extant. 

13 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 

GEOGRAPHY — Continued. 

INTERMEDIATE OR ALTERNATE VOLUMES IN THE FIVE BOOK SERIES. 

Monteith's Introduction to Geography. 
Monteith's Physical and Political Geography. 

I. PRACTICAL OBJECT-TEACHING. — The infant scholar is tirst introduced 
to a picture whence he may derive notions of the shape of the earth, the phenoniena-of 
day and night, the distribution of land and water, and the great natural divisions, 
which mere words would fail entirely to convey to the untutored mind. Other pictures 
follow on the same plan, and the child's mind is called upon to grasp no idea without 
the aid of a pictorial illustration. Carried on to the higher books, this system culmi- 
nates in Physical Geography, where such matters as climates, ocean currents, the 
winds, peculiarities of the earth's crust, clouds and rain, are pictorially explained and 
rendered apparent to the most obtuse. The illustrations used for this purpose belong 
to the highest grade of art. 

3. CLEAR, BEAUTIFUL, AND CORRECT MAPS. — In the lower num- 
bers the maps avoid unnecessary detail, while respectively progressive and affording 
the pupil new matter for acquisition each time he approaches in the constantly en- 
larging circle the point of coincidence with previous lessons iii the more elementary 
books. In the Physical and Political Geography the maps embrace many new and 
striking features. Ofie of the most effective of these is the new plan for displaying on 
each map the relative sizes of countries not represented, thus obviating much confu- 
sion which has arisen from the necessity of presenting maps in the same atlas drawn 
on different scales. The maps of "McNally'' have long been celebrated for their 
superior beauty and completeness. This is the only school-book in which the attempt 
to make a complete atlas also clear and distinct, has been successful. The map coloring 
throughout the series is also noticeable. Delicate and subdued tints take the place of 
the startling glare of inharmonious colors which too frequently in such treatises dazzle 
the eyes, distract the attention, and serve to overwhelm the names of towns and the 
natural features of the landscape. 

3. THE VARIETY OF MAP-EXERCISE. — Starting each time from a dif- 
ferent basis, the pupil in many instances appi-oaches the same fact no less than six 
times, thus indelibly impressing it upon his memory. At the same time, this system is 
not allowed to become wearisome, the extent of exercise on each subject being grad- 
uated by its relative importance or difficulty of acquisition. 

4. THE CHARACTER AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE DESCRIP- 
TIVE TEXT. — The cream of the science has been carefully culled, unimportant 
matter rejected, elaboration avoided, and a brief and concise manner of i)resentation 
cultivated. The orderly consideration of topics has contributed greatly to simplicity. 
Due attention is paid to the facts in history and astronomy which are inseparably con- 
nected with and important to the proper understanding of ajefgraphy, and such only 
are admitted on any terms. In a word, the National System teaches geography as a 
science, pure, simple, and exhaustive. 

3. ALWAYS UP TO THE TIMES. — The authors of these books, editorially 
speaking, never sleep. No change occurs in the boundaries of countries or of counties, 
no new discovery is made, or railroad built, that is not at once noted and recorded, and 
the next edition of each volume carries to every school-room the new order of things. 

6. FORM OF THE VOLUMES AND MECHANICAL EXECUTION. 
— The maps and text are no longer unnaturally divorced in accordance with the time- 
honored practice of making text-books on this subject as inconvenient and expensive as 
possible. On the contrary, all map questions are to be found on the page opposite the 
map itself, and each book is complete in one volume. The mechanical execution is 
unrivalled. Paper, printing, and binding are everything that could be desired. 

7. MAP-DRAWING. — In 1869 the system of map-drawing devised by Professor 
Jerome Alien was secured exclusively for this series. It derives its claim to original- 
ity and usefulness from the introduction of a fixed unit of measurement applicable to 
every map. The principles being so few, simple, and comprehensive, the subject of 
map-drawing is relieved of all practical difficulty. (In Nos. 2, 2*, and 3, and published 
separately.) 

8. ANALOGOUS OUTLINES. —At the same time with map-drawing was also 
introduced (in No. 2) a new and ingenious variety of Object Lessons, consisting of a 
comparison of the outlines of countries with familiar objects pictorially represented. 

14 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SdHOOl-BOOKS, 

GEOGRAPHY — ContmmcU 

g. SUPERIOR GRADATION. —This ia the only series which furnishes an avail- 
able volume for every possible class in graded schools. It is not contemplated that a. 
pupil must necessarily go through every volume in succession to attain proficieney. 
Un the contrary, two will suffice, but three are advised ,• and, if the course will admit, 
the whole series should be pursued. At all events, the books are at hand for selection, 
and every teacher, of every grade, can find among them one exo/cUy suited to his class. 
The best combination for those who wish to abridge the course consists of Nos. I, 35, 
aiid 3 ; or, where children are somewhat advanced in other studies when they com- 
mence geography, Nos. 1* 2, and 3. Where but tWQ books are admissible, Nos. 1* and ♦ 
9^1 or Nos. 2 and 3, are recoiamended. 







A Sheep Kanch in Montana. 
[Specimen Illustration from McNally's New Geography.] 



15 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 

GEOGRAPHY — C(mtiwt«ii, 

Monteith's Physical Geography. 

This is a clear, brief statement of the physical attribuies of the earib and their rela- 
tions to the heaven». The illustrations and maps are numerous and heipfuL It pro- 
vides full instruction in this important branch of study in an attractive way for the 
youngest scholars. It contains 54 pages, in c^uarto form. 



MAP-DRAWING. 

Monteith's Map-Drawing Made Easy, 

A neat little book of outlines and instructions, giving the "cosEsrs of States" in 
suitable blanks, so that maps can be drawn by unskilful handis from any atlas ; with 
instructions for written exercises or compositions on geographical subjects, and com- 
parative geography. 

Monteith's Manual of Map-Drawing (Allen's System). 

The only consistent plan, by which all maps are drawn on one scale. By its use 
much time may be saved, and much interest and accurate knowledge gained. 

Monteith's Map-Drawing and Object Lessons. 

The last-named treatise, bound with Mr. Monteith's ingenious system for commit- 
ting outlines to memory by means of pictures of living creatures and familiar objects. 
Thus, South America resembles a dog's bead ; Cuba, a lizard j Italy, a boot j France, a 
coffee-pot ; Turkey, a turkey, &c., &c. 

Monteith's Colored Blanks for Map-Drawing. 

A new aid in teaching geography, which will be found especially useful in recitations^ 
reviews, and examinations. The series comprises any section of the world required, 

Monteith's Map- Drawing Scale. 

A ruler of wood, graduated to the *' Allen fixed unit of measurement." 



WALL MAPS. 

Monteith's Pictorial Chart of Geography. 

The original drawing for this beautiful and instructive chart was greatly admired in 
the publisher's *' exhibit " at the Centennial Exhibition of 1876. It is a picture of the 
earth's surface with every natural feature displayed, teaching also physical geography, 
and especially the mutations of water. The uses to which man puts the earth and its 
treasures and forces, as Agriculture, Mining, Mantjfacturing, Commerce, and Transpor- 
tation, are also graphically portayed, so that the young learner gets a realistic idea of 
" the world we live in," which weeks of book study might fail to convey, 

Monteith's School Maps, 8 Numbers. 

The "School Series" includes the Hemispheres (2 maps), United States, North 
America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa. Price, $2.50 each. 

Each map is 28 x 34 inches, beautifully colored, has the names all laid down, and is 
substantially mounted on canvas with rollers. 

Monteith's Grand Maps, 8 Numbers. 

The "Grand Series" includes the Hemispheres (1 map), North America, United 
States, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the World on Mercator's Projection, and 
Physical Map of the World. Price, $5.00 each. Size, 42 x 52 inches, names laid down, 
colored, mounted, &c. 

Monteith's Sunday-School Maps. 

Including a map of Paul's Travels ($5.00), one of Ancient Canaan ($3. 00), and Mod- 
ern Palestine ($3.00), or Palestine and Canaan together ($5.00). 

16 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



MATHEMATICS. 



DAVIES'S COMPLETE SERIES- 

ARITHMETIC. 

Davies' Primary Arithmetic. 

Davies' Intellectual Arithmetic. 

Davies' Elements of Written Arithmetic. 

Davies' Practical Arithmetic. 

Davies' University Arithmetic. 

TWO-BOOK SERIES. 

First Book in Arithmetic, Primary and Mental. 
Complete Arithmetic. 

ALGEBRA. 

Davies' New Elementary Algebra. 
Davies' University Algebra. 
Davies' New Bourdon's Algebra. 

GEOMETRY. 

Davies' Elementary Geometry and Trigonometry. 

Davies' Legendre's Geometry. 

Davies' Analytical Geometry and Calculus. 

Davies' Descriptive Geometry. 

Davies' New^ Calculus. 

MENSURATION. 
Davies* Practical Mathematics and Mensuration. 
Davies' Elements of Surveying. 
Davies' Shades, Shadows, and Perspective. 

MATHEMATICAL SCIENCE. 

Davies' Grammar of Arithmetic. 

Davies' Outlines of Mathematical Science. 

Davies' Nature and Utility of Mathematics. 

Davies' Metric System. 

Davies & Peck's Dictionary of Mathematics. 

17 



. THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 

DAVIES'S NATIONAL COURSE 
OF MATHEMATICS. 

ITS RECORD. 

In claiming for this series the first place among American text-books, of whatever 
class, the publishers appeal to the magniflcent record which its volumes have earned 
during the thirty-five years of Dr. Charles Davies's mathematical labors. The unremit- 
ting exertions of a life-time have placed the modern series on the same proud eminence 
among competitors that each of its predecessors had successively enjoyed in a course of 
constantly improved editions, now rounded to their perfect fruition, — for it seeraa 
almost that this science is susceptible of no furthei* demonstration. 

During the period alluded to, many authors and editors in this department have 
started into public notice, and, by borrowing ideas and processes original with Dr. Davies, 
have enjoyed a brief popularity, but are now almost unliuown. Many of the series of 
to-day, built upon a similar basis, and described as " modern books," are destined to a 
similar fate ; while the most far-seeing eye will find it difficult to fix the time, on the 
basis of any data afforded by their past history, when these books will cease to increase 
and prosper, and fix a still firmer hold on the affection of every educated American. 

One cause of this unparalleled popularity is found in the fact that the enterprise of th« 
author did not cease with the original completion of his books. Always a practical 
teacher, he has incorporated in his text-books from time to time the advantages of every 
improvement in methods of teaching, and every advance in science. During all the 
years in which he has been laboring he constantly submitted his own theories and those 
»f others to the practical test of the class-room, approving, rejecting, or modifying 
them as the experience thus obtained might suggest. In this way he has been able 
to produce an almost perfect series of class-books, in which every department of 
mathematics has received minute and exhaustive attention. 

Upon the death of Dr. Davies, which took place in 1876, his work was immediately 
taken up by his former pupil and mathematical associate of many years. Prof. W. G. 
Peck, LL.D., of Columbia College. By him, with Prof. J. H. Van Amringe, of Columbia 
College, the original series is kept carefully revised and up to the times. 



Davies's System is the acknowledged Naiionai. Standard foh the United 
States, for the following reasons : — 

1st. It is the basis of instruction in the great national schools at "West Point and 
Annapolis. 

2d. It has received the quasi indorsement of the National Congress. 

3d. It is exclusively used in the public schools of the National Capital. 

4th. The officials of the Government use it as authority in all cases involving mathe- 
matical questions. 

5th. Our great soldiers and sailors commanding the national armies and navies were 
educated in this system. So have been a majority of eminent scientists in this country. 
All these refer to "Davies " as authority. 

6th. A larger number of American citizens have received their education from this 
than from any other series. 

7th. The series has a larger circulation throughout the whole country than any other, 
being extensively used in every State in the Union. 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOvL-BOOKS. 
DAVIES AND PECK'S ARITHMETICS. 

OPTIONAL OR CONSECUTIVE. 

The best thoughts of these two illustrious mathematicians are combined in the 
following beautiful works, which are the natural successors of Davies's Arithmetics, 
sumptuously printed, and bound in crimson, green, and gold: — 

Davies and Peck's Brief Arithmetic. V 

Also called the " Elementary Arithmetic. " It is the shortest presentation of the sub- 
ject, and is adequate for all grades in common schools, being a thorough introduction to 
practical life, except for the specialist. 

At first the authors play with the little learner for a few lessons, by object-teaching 
and kindred allurements ; but he soon begins to realize that study is earnest, as he 
becomes familiar with the simi:tler operations, and is delighted to find himself master of 
important results. 

The second x»art reviews the Fundamental Operations on a scale proportioned to 
the enlarged intelligence of the learner. It establishes the General Principles and 
Properties of Numbers, and then proceeds to Fractions. Currency and the Metric 
System are fuUy treated in connection with Decimals. Compound Numbers and Re- 
duction follow, and finally Percentage with all its varied applications. 

An Index of words and principles concludes the book, for which every scholar and 
most teachers will be grateful. How much time has been spent in searching for a half- 
forgotten definition or principle in a former lesson 1 

Davies and Peck's Complete Arithmetic. 

This work certainly deserves its name in the best sense. Though complete, it is not, 
like most others which bear the same title, cumbersome. These authors excel in clear, 
lucid demonstrations, teaching the science pure and simple, yet not ignoring convenient 
methods and practical applications. 

For turning out a tliorough business man no other work is so well adajited. He will 
have a clear comprehension of the science as a whole, and a working acquaintance 
with details which must serve him well in all emergencies. Distinguishing features of 
the book are the logical progression of the subjects and the great variety of practical 
problems, not puzzles, which are beneath the dignity of educational science. A clear- 
minded critic has said of Dr. Peck's work that it is free from that juggling with 
numbers which some authors falsely call " Analysis." A series of Tables for converting 
ordinary weights and measures into the Metric System appear in the later editions. 



PECK'S ARITHMETICS. 
Peck's First Lessons in Numbers. 

This book begins with pictorial illustrations, and unfolds gradually the science of 
numbers. It noticeably simplifies the subject by developing the principles of addition 
and subtraction simultaneously ; as it does, also, those of multiplication and division. 

Peck's Manual of Arithmetic. 

This book is designed especially for those who seek sufficient instruction to carry 
them successfully through practical life, but have not time for extended study. 

Peck's Complete Arithmetic. 

This completes the series but is a much briefer book than most of the complete 
arithmetics, and is recommended not only for what it contains, but also for what is 
omitted. 

It may be said of Dr. Peck's books more truly than of any other series published, that 
they are clear and simple in definition and rule, and that superfluous matter of every 
kind has been faithfully eliminated, thus magnifying the working value of tlie book 
•nd Miving unnecessary expense of time and labor. 

19 



4 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



BARNES'S NEW MATHEMATICS. 

In this series Joseph Ficklin, Ph. T)., Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy 
in the University of Missouri, Jias combined aU the best and latest results of practical 
and experimental teaching of arithmetic with the assistance of many distinguished 
mathematical authors. 



Barnes's Elementary Arithmetic. 
Barnes's National Arithmetic. 

These two works constitute a complete arithmetical course in tvjo books. 

They meet the demand for text-books that will help students to acquire the greatest 
amount of useful and practical knowledge of Arithmetic by the smallest expenditure of 
time, labor, and money. Nearly every topic in Written Arithmetic is introduced, and its 
principles illustrated, by exercises in Oral Arithmetic. The free use of Equations ; the 
concise method of combining and treating Properties of Numbers; the treatment of 
Multiplication and Division of Fractions in two cases, and then reduced to one; Can- 
cellation by the use of the vertical line, especially in Fractions, Interest, and Proportion ; 
the brief, simple, and greatly superior method of working Partial Payments by the 
" Time Table " and Cancellation ; the substitution of formulas to a great extent for 
rules ; the full and practical treatment of the Metric System, &c., indicate their com- 
pleteness. A variety of methods and processes for the same topic, which deprive the 
pupil of the great benefit of doing a part of the thinking and labor for him.self, have 
been discarded. The statement of principles, definitions, rules, &c., is brief and simple. 
The illustrations and methods are explicit, direct, and practical. The great number 
and variety of Examples embody the actual business of the day. The very large 
amount of matter condensed in so small a compass has been accomplished by econo- 
mizing every line of space, by rejecting superfluous matter and obsolete terms, and by 
avoiding the repetition of analyses, explanations, and operations in the advanced topics 
which have been used in the more elementary parts of these books. 

AUXILIAKIES. 

For use in district schools, and for supplying a text-book in advanced work for 
classes having finished the course as given in the ordinary Practical Arithmetics, the 
National Arithmetic has been divided and bound separately, as follows : — 

Barnes's Practical Aritlinietic. 

Barnes's Advanced Arithmetic. 

In many schools there are classes that for various reasons never reach beyond 
Percentage. It is just such cases where Barnes's Practical Arithmetic will answer a 
good purpose, at a price to the pupil much less than to buy the complete book. On the 
other hand, classes having finished the ordinary Practical Arithmetic can proceed 
.with the higher course by using Barnes's Advanced Arithmetic. 

For primary schools requiring simply a table book, and the earliest rudiments 
forcibly presented through object-teaching and copious illustrations, we have 
prepared 

Barnes's First Lessons in Arithmetic, 

which begins with the most elementary notions of numbers, and proceeds, by simple 
steps, to develop all the fundamental principles of Arithmetic. 



Barnes's Elements of Algebra. 

This work, as its title indicates, is elementary in its character and suitable for use, 
(1) in such public schools as give instruction in the Elements of Algebra : (2) in institu- 
tions of learning whose courses of study do not include Higher Algebra ; (3) in schools 
whose object is to prepare students for entrance into our colleges and universities. 
This book will also meet the wants of students of Physics who require some knowledge of 

20 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



Algebra. The student's progress in Algebra depends very largely upon the proper treat- 
ment of the four Fundamental Operations. The terms Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, 
and Division in Algebra have a wider meaning than in Arithmetic, and these operations 
have been so detined as to include their arithmetical meaning ; so that the beginner 
is sine ply called upon to enlarge his views of those fundamental operations. Much 
attention has been given to the explanation of the negative sign, in order to remove the 
well-known difficulties in the use and interpretation of that sign. Special attention is 
here called to " A Short Method of Removing Symbols of Aggregation," Art. 76. On 
account of their importance, the subjects of Factoring, Greatest Common Divisor, and 
Least Common Multiple have been treated at greater length than is usual in elementary 
works. In the treatment of Fractions, a method is used which is quite simple, and, 
at tl/e same time, more general than that usually employed. In connection with Radical 
Quantities the roots are expressed by fractional exponents, for the principles and rules 
applicable to integral exponents may then be used without modification. The Equation 
is made the chief subject of thought in this work. It is defined near the beginning, 
and used extensively in every chapter.^In addition to this, four chapters are devoted 
exclusively to the subject of Equations. All Proportions are equations, and in their 
treatment as such all the difficulty commonly connected with the subject of Proportion 
disappears. The chapter on Logarithms will doubtless be acceptable to many teachers 
who do not require the student to master Higher Algebra before entering upon the 
study of Trigonometry. 



HIGHER MATHEMATICS. 
Peck's Manual of Algebra. 

Bringing the methods of Bourdon within the range of the Academic Course. 

Peck's Manual of Geometry. 

By a method purely practical, and unembarrassed by the details which rather confuse 
than simplify science. 

Peck's Practical Calculus. 

Peck's Analytical Geometry. 

Peck's Elementary Mechanics. 

Peck's Mechanics, with Calculus. 

The briefest treatises on these subjects now published. Adopted by the great UniVM- 
sities : Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Cornell, &c. 

Macnie's Algebraical Equations. 

Serving as a complement to the more advanced treatises on Algebra, giving special 
attention to the analysis and solution of equations with numerical coefficients. 

Church's Elements of Calculus. 

Church's Analytical Geometry. 

Church's Descriptive Geometry. With plates. 2 vois. 

These volumes constitute the " West Point Course " in their several departments. 
Prof. Church was long the eminent professor of mathematics at West Point Militaiy 
Academy, and his works are standard in all the leading colleges. 

Courtenay's Elements of Calculus. 

A standard work of the very highest grade, presenting the most elaborate attainable 
survey of the subject. 

Hackley's Trigonometry. 

With applications to Navigation and Surveying, Nautical and Practical Geometiy, 
and Geodesy. 

21 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 




GENERAL ItilSTORY. 

Monteith's Youth's History of the United States. 

A History of the United States for beginners. It is arranged upon the catechetical plan, 
with illustrative maps and engravings, review questions, dates in parentheses (that their 
study may be optional with the younger class of learners), and interesting hiograjihioal 
sketches of ail persons who have heeu prominently identified with the history of our 
coTintry, 

Willard's United States, School and University Editions. 

The plaQ of this standard work is chronologically exhibited in front of the titlepage. 
The maps and sketches are found useful assistants to the memory ; and dates, usually 
so difficult to remember, are so systematically ari-auged as in a great degree to obviate 
the difficulty. Candor, impartiality, and accuracy are the distinguishing featuiies of 
the narrative portion. 

W^illard's Universal History. New Edition. 

The most valuable features of the " United States " are reproduced in this. The 
peculiarities of the work are its great conciseness and the prominence given to the 
chronological order of events. The margin marks each successive era with great dis- 
tinctness, so that the pupil retains not only the event but its time, and thus fixes the 
order of history firmiy and usefully in his mmd. Mrs. Wilbuxi's books are constantly 
revised, and at all times written up to embrace important historical events of recent 
date. Professor Arthur Gilman has edited the last twenty-five years to 1882. 

Lancaster's English History. 

By the Master of the Stoughton Grammar School, Boston. The most practical of the 
"brief books." Though short, it is not a bare and uninteresting outline, but contains 
enough of explanation and detail to make intelligible the cause atid effect of events. 
Their relations to the history and development of the American people is made specially 
prominent. 

Willis's Historical Reader. 

Being Collier's Great Events of History adapted to American schools. This rare 
epitome of general history, remarkable for its charming style and judicious selection of 
events on which the destinies of nations have turned, has been skilfully manipulated 
by Professor Willis, with as few changes as would bring the United Stnt&s into its proper 
position in the historical perspective. As reader or text-book it has few equals and no 
superior. 

Berard's History of England. 

By an authoress well known for the success of her History of the United States. 
The social life of the English people is felicitously interwoven, as in fact, with the civil 
and military tra,nsaetions of the realm. 

Ricord's History of Rome, 

Possesses the cliarm of an attractive romance. The fables with which this history 
abounds are introduced in such a way as not to deceive the inexperienced, while adding 
\;m liter i.iHy to the value of the work as a iTliable index to the charactci and institution?, 
>»s well ass the hiatorv of the Roman people. 

22 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 

HISTORY — Continued. 

Hanna's Bible History. 

The only conipendiuin of Bible narrative which affords a connected and chronological 
view of the important events there recorded, divested of all superfluous detail. 

Summary of History; American, French, and English. 

A well-proportioned outline of leading events, condensing the substance of the more 
extensive text-books in common use into a series of statements so brief, that every 
word may be committed to memory, and yet so comprehensive that it presents an 
accurate tiiough general view of the whole continuous life of nations. 

Marsh's Ecclesiastical History. 

Affording the History of the Church in all ages, with accounts of the pagan world 
during the biblical periods, and the character, rise, and progress of all religions, as well 
as the various sects of the worshippers of Christ. The work is entirely non-sectarian, 
though strictly catholic. A separate volume contains carefully prepared questions for 
class use. 

Mill's History of the Ancient Hebrews. 

With valuable Chronological Charts, prepared by Professor Edwards of N. Y. This 
is a succinct account of the chosen people of God to the time of the destruction of 
Jerusalem. Complete in one volume. 

Topical History Chart Book. 

By Miss Ida P. Whitcomb. To be used in connection with any History, Jncieni or 
Modern, instead of the ordinary blank book for summary. It embodies the names of 
contemporary rulers from the earliest to the jiresent time, with blanks under each, in 
which the pupil may write the summary of the life of the ruler. 

Oilman's First Steps in General History. 

A "suggestive outline" of rare compactness. Each country is treated by itself, and 
the United States receive special attention. Frequent maps, contemporary events in 
tables, references to standard works for fuller details, and a minute Index constitute 
the " Illustrative Apparatus." Prom no other work that we know of can so succinct a 
view of the world's history be obtained. Considering the necessary limitation of space, 
the style is surprisingly vivid, and at times even ornate. In all respects a charming, 
though not the less practical, text-book. 

Baker's Brief History of Texas. 
Dimitry's History of Louisana. 
Alison's Napoleon First. 

The hi.story of Europe from 1788 to 1815. By Archibald Alison. Abridged by Edward 
S. Gould. One vol., 8vo, with appendix, questions, and maps. 550 pages. 

Lord's Points of History. 

The salient points in the history of the world arranged catechetically for class use or 
for review and examination of teacher or pupil. By John Lord, LL.D. 12mo, 300 
pages. 

Carrington's Battle Maps and Charts of the American 
Revolution. 

Topographical Maps and Chronological Charts of every battle, with 3 steel portraits 
of Washington. Svo, cloth. 

Condit's History of the English Bible. 

For theological and historical students this book has an intrinsic value. It gives the 
history of all the English translations down to the present time, together with a careful 
review of their influence upon English literature and language. 

23 



J HE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



BARNES'S ONE-TERM HISTORY 
SERIES. 



^ lllgffllYigf fcl^a^ 




United 



A Brief History of the 
States. 

This is probably the most original school-book pub- 
lished for many years, in any department. A few of its 
claims are the following : — 

1. Brevity. — The text is complete for grammar school 
or intermediate classes, in 290 12mo pages, large type. 
It may readily be completed, if desired, in one term of 
study. 

2. Comprehensiveness. — Though so brief, this book 
contains the pith of all the wearying contents of the larger 
manuals, and a great deal more than the memory usually 
retains from the latter. 

3. Interest has been a prime consideration. Small 
books have heretofore been bare, full of dry statistics, unattractive. This one is 
charmingly written, replete with anecdote, and brilliant with illustration. 

4. Proportion of Events. — It is remarkable for the discrimination with which 
the different portions of our history are presented according to their importance. Thus 
the older works, being already large books when the Civil War took place, give it less 
space than that accorded to the Revolution. 

5. Arrangement. — In six epochs, entitled respectively, Discovery and Settlement, 
the Colonies, the Revolution, Growth of States, the Civil War, and Current Events. 

6. Catch Words. — Each paragraph is preceded by its leading thought in promi- 
nent type, standing in the student's mind for the whole paragraph. 

7. Key Notes. — Analogous with this is the idea of grouping battles, &c., al)out 
some central event, which relieves the sameness so common in such descriptions, and 
renders each distinct by some striking peculiarity of its own. 

8. Foot-Notes. — These are crowded with interesting matter that is not strictly a 
part of history proper. Thej"^ may be learned or not, at pleasure. They are certain 
in any event to be read. 

9. Biographies of all the leading characters are given in full in foot-notes. 

10. Maps. — Elegant and distinct maps from engravings on copper-plate, and beauti- 
fully colored, precede each epoch, and contain all the places named. 

11. Questions are at the back of the book, to compel a more independent use of the 
text. Both text and questions are so worded that the pupil must give intelligent 
answers in his own words. " Yes " and " No " will not do. 



24 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 

HISTOKY — Continued. 

12. Historical Recreations. — These are additional questions to test the student's 
knowledge, in review, as: "What trees are celebrated in our history?" "When 
did a fog save our army?" "What Presidents died in office?" "When was the 
Mississippi our western boundary?" "Who said, 'I would rather be right than 
President ' ? " &c. 

13. The Illustrations, aboiit seventy in number, are the work of our best artists 
and engravers, produced at great expense. They are A'ivid and interesting, and mostly 
upon subjects never before illustrated in a school-book. 

14. Dates- — Only the leading dates are given in the text, and these are so associated 
as to assist the memory, but at the head of each page is the date of the event first 
mentioned, and at the close of each epoch a summary of events and dates. 

15. The Philosophy of History is studiously exhibited, the causes and effects 
of events being distinctly traced and their inter-connection shown. 

16. Impartiality. — All sectional, partisan, or denominational views are avoided. 
Facts are stated after a careful comparison of all authorities without the least prejudice 
or favor. 

17. Index. — A verbal index at the close of the book perfects it as a work of reference. 
It will be observed that the above are all particulars in which School Histories have 

been signally defective, or altogether wanting. Many other claims to favor it shares in 
common with its predecessors. 



TESTIMONIALS. 



/VoOT Pkof. Wm. F. Allen, State JJni- 
versity of Wisconsin. 
*'Two features that I like very mnck 
are the anecdotes at the foot of the page 
and the * Historical Recreations' in the 
Appendix. The latter, I think, is quite 
a 7ieto feature, and the other is very well 
executed." 

From Hon. Newton Bateman, Superin- 
tendent Fuhlic Instruction, Illinois. 
"Barnes's One-Term History of the 
United States is an exceedingly attrac- 
tive and spirited little book. Its claim 
to several new and valuable features seems 
well founded. Under the form of six well- 
defined epochs, the history of the United 
States is traced tersely, yet pithily, from 
the earliest times to the present day. A 
good map precedes each epoch, whereby 
the history and geography of the period 
may be studied together, as they always 
should be. The syllabus of each paragraph 
is made to stand in such bold relief, by 
the use of large, heaA'y type, as to be of 
much mnemonic value to the student. The 
book is written in a sprightly and pi- 
quant style, the interest never flagging 
from beginning to end, — a rare and diffi- 
cult achievement in works of this kind." 

From Hon. Abner J. Phipps, Superin- 
tendent Schools, Levriston, Maine. 
•• Barnes's History of the United States 



has been used for several years in the 
Lewiston schools, and has proved a very 
satisfactory work. I have examined the 
new edition of it." 

From Hon. R. K. Buchell, City Superin- 
tendent Schools, Lancaster, Pa. 

" It is the best history of the kind I have 
ever seen." 

From T. J. Chaelton, Superintendent 
Piiilic Schools, Vincennes, Ind. 
"We have used it here for six years, 
and it has given almost perfect satisfac- 
tion. . . . The notes in fine print at the 
bottom of the pages are of especial value." 

From Prof. Wm. A. Mowrv, E. ^ C. 
School, Providence, R. I. 

" Permit me to express my high appre- 
ciation of your book. I wish all text- 
books for the young had equal merit." 

From Hon. A. M. Keiley, City Attorney, 
Late Mayor, and President of the School 
Board, City of Richmond, Va. 
" I do not hesitate to volunteer to you 
the opinion that Barnes 's History is en- 
titled to the preference in almost eveiy 
respect that distinguishes a good school- 
book. . . . The narrative generally exhibits 
the temper of the judge ; rarely, if ever, 
of the advocate." 



25 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 




^tiwM^mmiM 



A Brief History of An- 
cient Peoples. 



With an account of their monuments, 
literature, and manners. 340 pages. 
l'2mo. Profusely illustrated. 

In this work the political history, 
which occupies nearly, if not all, 
the oixlinary school text, is condensed 
to the saUent and essential facts, ia 
order to give room for a clear outhne 
of the litei-ature, religion, architecture, 
chai-acter, habits, &c., of each nation. 
Surely it is as important to know some- 
thing about Plato as all about Caesar, 
and to learn how the ancients wrote 
their books as how they fought their 
battles. 

The chapters on Manners and Cus- 
toms and the Scenes in Real Life repre- 
sent the peoiile of history as men and 
women subject to the same wants, hopes 
and fears as ourselves, and so bring the distant past near to us. The Scenes, which are 
intended only for reading, are tlie result of a careful study of the unequalled collections of 
momunents m the London and Berlin Museums, of the ruins in Rome and Pompeii, and 
of the latest authorities on the domestic life of ancient peoples. Though intentionally 
written m a semi-romantic style, they axe accurate pictures of what m?.<7A/! have occurreeC 
and some of them are simple transcriptions of the details sculptured in Assyriaa 
alaliaster or painted on Egyptian walls. 

26 





THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



HISTORY — Continued. 

The extracts made from the sacred books of the East are not specimens of their style 
and teachings, but only gems selected often from a mass of matter, niucli of which would 
be absurd, meaningless, and even revolting. It has not seemed best to cumber a book 
like this with selections conveying no moral lesson. 

The numerous cross-references, the abundant dates in parenthesis, the pronunciation 
of the names in the Index, the choice reading references at tlie close of each general 
subject, and the novel Historical Recreations in the Appendix, will be of service to 
teacher and pupil alike. 

Though designed primarily for a text-book, a large class of persons — general readers, 
who desire to know something about the progress of historic criti*"ism and <,he recent 
discoveries made among the resurrected monuments of the East, but have no leisure to 
read the ponderous volumes of Brugsch, Layard, Grote, Moramsen, and Ihne — will hud 
thi.s volume just what they need. 



From Homer B. SpjiAGtrE, Head Master 
Girls' High School, West Newton St., Bos- 
ton, Mass. 
" I beg to recommend in strong terms 

the adoption of Barnes's * History of 



Ancient Peoples* as a text-book. It is 
about as nearly perfect as could be 
hoped for. The adoption would give 
great relish to the study of Ancient 
History." 




f History of France. 

By the author of the " Bri-.f United States," 
with all the attractive features of that popu- 
lar work (which see) and new ones of its own. 
It is believed that the History of Franc« 
has never before been presented in such 
brief compass, and this is effected without 
sacrificing one particle of interest. The book 
reads like a romance, and, while drawing tlie 

^, ^ student by an irresistible fascination to his 

the great outlines indelibly upon the memory. 

27 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



DRAWING. 

BARNES'S POPULAR DRAWING SERIES. 

Based upon the experience of the most successful teachers of drawing in the United 
States. 

The Primary Course, consisting of a manual, ten cards, and three primary 
draw'uig t)0()t<s, A, B, and (J. 

Intermediate Course. Four numbers and a manual. 

Advanced Course. Four numbers and a manual. 

Instrumental Course. Four numbers and a manual. 

'liie lutenuectiate. Advanced, and Instrumental Courses are furnished either in boolc 
or caj-d form at the same prices. The books contain the usual blanlcs, with the unusual 
advantage of opening from the pupil, — placing the copy directly iu front and above 
the blanli, thus occupying but little desk-room. The cards are in the end more econom- 
ical than the books, if used in connection with the patent blank folios that accompany 
this series. 

The cards are arranged to be bound (or tied) in the folios and removed at pleasure. 
The pupil at the end of each number has a complete book, containing only his own 
work, while the copies are preserved and inserted iu another folio ready for use in the 
next class. 

Patent Blank Folios. No. l. Adapted to Intermediate Course. No. 2. Adapted 
to Advanced and Instrumental Courses. 

ADVANTAGES OF THIS SERIES. 

The Plan and Arrangement. — The examples are so arranged that teachers and 
pupils can see, at a glance, how they are to be treated and where they are to be copied. 
In this system, copying and designing do not receive all the attention. The plan is 
broader in its aims, dealing with drawing as a branch of common-school instruction, 
and giving it a wide educational value. 

Correct Methods. — In this system the pupil is led to rely upon, himself, and not 
upon delusive mechanical aids, as printed guide-marks, &c. 

One of the principal objects of any good course in freehand drawing is to educate the 
eye to estimate location, form, and size. A system which weakens the motive or re- 
moves the necessity of thinking is false in theory and ruinous in practice. The object 
should be to educate, not cram ; to develop the intelligence, not teach tricks. 

Artistic Effect. — The beauty of the examples is not destroyed by crowding the 
pages with useless and badly printed text. The Manuals contain all necessary 
instruction. 

Stages of Development. — Many of the examples are accompanied by diagrams, 
showing the different stages of development. 

Lithographed Examples. — The examples are printed in imitation of pencil 
drawing (not in hard, black lines) that the pupil's work may resemble them. 

One Term's Work. — Each book contains what can be accomplished in an average 
term, and no more. Thus a -^vl^H finishes one book before beginning another. 

Quality — not Quantity. — Success in drawing depends upon the amount of thought 
exercised by the pupU, and not upon the large number of examples drawn. 

Designing. — Elementary design is more skilfullj^ taught in this system than by 
any other. In addition to the instruction given in the books, the pupil will find printed 
on the insides of the covers a variety of beautiful patterns. 

Enlargement and Reduction. — The practice of enlarging and reducing from 
copies is not commenced until the pupil is well advanced in the course and therefore 
better able to cope with this difficult feature in drawing. 

Natural Forms. —This is the only course that gives at convenient intervals easy 
and progressive exercises in the drawing of natural forms. 

Economy. — By the patent binding described above, the copies need not be thrown 
aside when a book is filled out, but are preserved in perfect condition for future use. 
The blank books, only, will have to be purchased after the first introduction, thus effect- 
ing a saving of more than half in the usual cost of drawing-books. 

Manuals for Teachers. — The Manuals accompanying this series contain practical 
instructions for conducting drawing in the class-room, with definite directions for draw- 
ing each of the examples in the books, instructions for designing, model and object 
drawing, drawing from natural forms, &c. 

28 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 

DRAWING — Continued. 

Chapman's American Drawing-Book. 

The standard American text-book and authority in all branches of art. A compilation 
of art principles. A manual for the amateur, and basis of study for the professional 
artist. Adapted for schools and private instruction. 

Contents. — "Any one who can Learn to Write can Learn to Draw." — Primary In- 
struction in Drawing. — Rudiments of Drawing the Human ' Head. — Rudiments in 
Drawing the Human Figure. — Rudiments of Drawing. — The Elements of Geometry. — 
Perspective. — Of Studying and Sketching from Nature. — Of Painting. — Etching and 
Engraving. — Of Modelling. — Of Composition. — Advice to the American Art-Student. 

The work is of course magnificently illustrated with all the original designs. 

Chapman's Elementary Drawing-Book. 

A progressive course of practical exercises, or a text-book for the training of the 
eye and hand. It contains the elements from the larger work, and a copy should be in 
the hands of every pupil ; while a copy of the " American Drawing-Book," named above, 
should be at hand for reference by the class. 

Clark's Elements of Drawing. 

A complete course in this graceful art, from the first rudiments of outline to the 
finished sketches of landscape and scenery. 

Allen's Map-Drawing and Scale. 

This method introduces a new era in map-drawing, for the following reasons : 1. It 
is a system. This is its greatest merit. — 2. It is easily understood and taught. — 
3. The eye is trained to exact measurement by the use of a scale. — 4. By no special 
effort of the memory, distance and comparative size are fixed in the mind. — 5. It dis- 
cards useless construction of lines. — 6. It can be taught by any teacher, even though 
there may have been no previous practice in map-drawing. — 7. Any pupil old enough 
to study geography can learn by this system, in a short time, to draw accurate maps. 
— 8. The system is not the result of theory, but comes directly from the school-room. 
It has been thoroughly and successfully tested there, with all grades of pupils. — 9. It 
is economical, as it requires no mapping plates. It gives the pupil the ability of rapidly 
drawing accurate maps. 

FINE ARTS. 

Hamerton's Art Essays (Atlas Series) : — 

No. 1. The Practical "Work of Painting. 

With portrait of Rubens. 8vo. Paper covers. 

No. 2. Modern Schools of Art.. 

Including American, English, and Continental Painting. Svo. Paper covers, 

Huntington's Manual of the Fine Arts. 

A careful manual of instruction in the history of art, up to the present time. 

Boyd's Kames' Elements of Criticism. 

The best edition of the best work on art and literary criticism ever produced in 
English. 

Benedict's Tour Through Europe. 

A valuable companion for any one wishing to visit the galleries and sights of the 
continent of Europe, as well as a charming book of travels, 

Dwight's Mythology. 

A knowledge of mythology is necessary to an appreciation of ancient art. 

Walker's World's Fair. 

The industrial and artistic display at the Centennial Exhibition. 

29 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 

BOOK-KEEPING TEXT. 

Powers's Practical Book-keeping. 
Powers's Blanks to Practical Book-keeping. 

A Treatise on Book-keeping, for Public Schools and Academies. By Millard R. 
Powers, M. A. This work is designed to impart instruction upon tlie science of accounts, 
as applied to mercantile business, and it is believed that more knowledge, and that, too, 
of a more practical nature, can be gained by the plan introduced in this work, than by 
any other pubhshed. 

Folsom's Logical Book-keeping. 
Folsom's Blanks to Book-keeping. 

This treatise embraces the interesting and important discoveries of Professor Folsora (of 
the Albany " Bryant & Stratton College "), the partial enunciation of which in lectures 
and otherwise has attracted so much attention in circles interested in commercial 
education. 

After studying business phenomena for many years, lie has arrived at the positive 
laws and principles that underlie the whole subject of accounts ; finds that the science 
is based in value as a generic term ; that value divides into two classes with varied 
species ; that all the exchanges of values are reducible to nine equations ; and that all 
the results of all these exchanges are limited to thirteen in number. 

As accounts have been universally taught hitherto, without setting out from a radical 
analysis or definition of values, the science has been kept in great obscurity, and been 
made as difficult to impart as to acquire. On the new theory, however, these obstacles 
are chiefly removed. In reading over the first pait of it, in which the governing laws 
and principles are discussed, a person with ordinary intelligence will obtain a fair con- 
ception of the double-entry process of accounts. But when he comes to study thoroughly 
these laws and principles as there enunciated, and works out the examples and memo- 
randa which elucidate the thirteen results of business, the student will neither fail in 
readily acquiring the science as it is, nor in becoming able intelligently to apply it in 
the interpretation of business. 

Smith and Martin's Book-keeping. 
Smith and Martin's Blanks. 

This work is by a practical teacher and a practical book-keeper. It is of a thoroughly 
popular class, and will be welcomed by every one who loves to see theory and practice 
combined in an easy, concise, and methodical form. 

The single-entry portion is well adapted to supply a want felt in nearly all other 
treatises, which seem to be prepared mainly for the use of wholesale merchants ; 
leaving retailers, mechanics, farmers, &c. , who transact the greater portion of the 
business of the country, without a guide. The work is also commended, on this 
account, for general use in young ladies' seminaries, where a thorough grounding 
in the simpler form of accounts will be invaluable to the future housekeepers of the 
nation. 

The treatise on double-entry book-keeping combines all the advantages of the 
most recent methods with the utmost simplicity of application, thus affording the 
pupil all the advantages, of actual experience in the counting-house, and giving a 
clear comprehension of the entire subject through a judicious course of mercantile 
transactions. 



PRACTICAL BOOK-KEEPING. 

Stone's Post-Office Account Book. 

By Micah H. Stone. For record of Box Rents and Postages. Three sizes always in 
stock. 64, 108, and 204 pages. 

INTEREST TABLES. 

Brooks's Circular Interest Tables. 

To calculate simple and compound interest for any amount, from 1 cent to $1,000» at 
current rates from 1 day to 7 years. 

31 



THE mTIDKAL SEBIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 

DR. STEELE'S ONE-TERM SERIES, 
IN ALL THE SCIENCES. 

Steele's 14-^/^^661^3 Course in Chemistry* 
Steele's i4-'Weeks Course in Astronomy, 
Steele's 14-W^eeks Course in Physics, 
Steele's 14- Weeks Course in Geology, 
Steele's 14- Weeks Course in Physiology, 
Steele's 14- Weeks Course in Zoology, 
Steele's 14- Weeks Course in Botany. 

Our text-books in these studies are, as a geaei-al thing, duU and unlat^<estit^. 
They contain from 400 to 600 pages of dry facts and imeonfiected details. They abound 
in that which tlie studteat cann^ learn, much less remember. The papii comioenees 
the study, is confused by the fine print and coarse print, and aeither knowing exactly 
what to leacn nor what to hasten over, is crowded through the single term generally 
assigiied to each branch, and ftiequeatly comes to the close without a definite and exact 
idea of a siagle scientific principle. 

Steele's " Fourteen- Weeks Courses " contain only that which eveiy well-informed per- 
son should know, while all that which concerns only the professional scientist is omitted. 
The language is clear, simpie, and interesting, and the illustrations bring tiie subject 
within the rsaage of h^ame life and daily experience. They give such of the general 
principles and the prominent facts as a pupil can make familiar as household words 
within a siagle term. The ty^je is large and open ; tlvere is no fine print to annoy ; 
the cuts are copies of genuine ez|)erinients er natural phenom^ia, and are of fine 
executioR. 

In fine, by a system of condensation peculiarly his own, the author reduces each 
branch to tlie limits of a singie term of study, while sacrificing nothing that is essential, 
and nothing that is usually retained from the study of the larger manuals in common 
use. Thus the student has rare opportunity to eaommze his time, or rather to employ 
that which he has to the best advantage. 

A notable feature is the author's charming "style," fortified by an enthusiasm over 
his subject in which the student will not fail to partake. Believing that Natural 
Science is full of fascination, he has moulded it into a form that attracts tiie attention 
and kindles the enthusiasm of the pupil. 

The recent editions contain the author's " Practical Questions " on a plan never 
before attempted in scientific text-books. These are questions as to the nature and 
cause of common phenomena, and are not directly answered in the text, the design 
being to test and promote an intelligent use of tlie student's knowledge of the foregoing 
l)rinciples. 

Steele's Key to all His W^orks. 

This work is mainly composed of answers to the PracticalQuestions, and solutions of the 
problems, in the author's celebrated " Fourteen- Weeks Courses " in the several sciences, 
with many hints to teachers, minor tables, &c. Should be on every teacher's desk. 

Prof. J, Dorman Steele is an indefatigable student, as well as author, and his books 
have reached a fabulous circulation. It is safe to say of his books that they have 
accomplished more tangible and better results in the class-room than any other ever 
offered to American schools, and have been translated into more languages for foreign 
schools. They are even produced in raised type for the bliud. 

32 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



THE NEW GANOT. 

Introductory Course of Natural Philosophy. 

This book Mas originally edited from Ganot's " PopvAar Physics," by William G. 
Peck, LL.D,, Professor of Mathematics and Astxonomy, Columbia College, and of 
Mechanics in the School of Mines. It has recently been revised by Levi S. Bur- 
bank, A. M.J lat^ Principal of Warren Academy, Wobum, Mass., and Jaiaes I. Hanson, 
A.M., Principal of the High School, Woburn, Mass. 

Of elementary "syorks those of M. Ganot stand pre-eminent, not only as popular 
treatises, but as thoroughly scientific expositions of the principles of Physics. His 
** Traite de Physique " has not only met with unprecedented success in France, but has 
teen extensively used in the preparation of the best works on Physics that have been 
issued from the American press. 

In addition to the "Traite de Physique," which is intended for the use of colleges 
and higher institutions of learning, M. Ganot published this more elementai-y work, 
adapted to the use of schools and academies, in which he faithfully preserved the 
prominent features aad all the scientific accuracy of the larger work. It is charcter- 
ized by a well-balanced distribution of subjects, a logical development of scientific 
principles, and a remarkable clearness of definition and explanation. In addition, it is 
profusely illustrated with beautifully executed engravings, admirably calculated to 
convey to the raind of the student a clear conception of the principles unfolded. Their 
completeness arad accuracy are such as to enable the teacher to dispense with much of 
the apparatus usually employed in teaching the elements of Physical Science. 

After several years of great popularity the American publishers have brought this 
important book thoroughly up to the times. The death of the accomplished educator. 
Professor Burbank, took place before he had completed his work, and it was then 
taken in hand by his friend. Professor Hanson, who was familiar with his plans, and 
has ably and satisfactorily brought the work to completion. 

The essential characteristics and general plan of the book have, so far as possible, 
been retained, but at the same time many parts have been entirely rewritten, much 
new matter added, a large number of new cuts introduced, and the whole treatise 
thoroughly revised and brought into harmony with the present advanced stage of sci- 
entific discovery. 

Among the iievr features designed to aid in teaching the subject-matter are the 
summaries of topics, which, it is thought, will be found very convenient in short 
reviews. 

As n:any teachers prefer to prepare their own questions on the text, and many do not 
have time to spend in the solution of problems, it has been deemed expedient to insert 
both the reviev/ questions and problems at the end of the volume, to be used or not at 
the discretion of the instructor. 



From the Churchman. 

'* No department of science has under- 
gone so many improvements and changes 
in the last quarter of a century as that of 
natural philosophy. So many and so im- 
portant have been the discoveries and 
inventions in every branch of it that 
eveitything seeras changed but its funda- 
mental principles. Ganot has chapter 
upon chapter upon subjects that were not 
so much as known by name to Olmsted ; 
and here we have Ganot, first edited by 
Professor Peck, and aftenvard revised by 
the late Mr. Burbank and Mr. Hanson. No 
elementary works upon philosophy have 
been su]ierior to those of Ganot, either as 
popular treattses or as scientific exposi- 
tions of the principles of physics, and 
his 'Traite de Physique' has not only had 
a great success in France, but has been 
freely used in this country in the prepa- 
ration of American books upon the sub- 



jects of which it treats. That work was 
intended for higher Institutions of learn- 
ing, and Mr. Ganot prepared a more 
elementary work for schools and acade- 
mies. It is as scientifically accurate as 
the larger work, and is characterized by 
a logical development of scientific princi- 
ples, by clearness of definition and expla- 
nation, by a proper distribution of sub- 
jects, and by its admirable engravings. 
We here have Ganot's work enhanced in 
value by the labors of Professor Peck and of 
Messrs. Burbank and Hanson, and brought 
up to our own times. Tiie essential char- 
acteristics of Ganot's work have been re- 
tained, but mucli of the book has been 
rewritten, and many new cuts have been 
introduced, made nccessaiy by the prog- 
ress of scientific discovery. The short 
reviews, the questions on the text, and 
the problems given for solution are desir- 
able additions to a work of this kind, and 
will give tlie book increased popiUarity," 



34 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



FAMILIAR SCIENCE. 

Norton & Porter's First Book of Science. 

Sets forth the principles of Natural Philosophy, Astronoiny, Chemistry, Physiology, 
and Geology, on the catechetical plan for priuiaiy classes an 1 beginners. 

Chambers's Treasury of Knowledge. 

Progressive lessons upon — ./ir-yf, common things which lie most immediately around 
us, and first attract the attention of the young mind; second, common objects from the 
mineral, animal, and vegetable kingdoms, manufactured articles, and miscellaneous 
substances ; third, a systematic view of nature under the various sciences. May be 
used as a reader or text-book. 

Monteith's Easy Lessons in Popular Science. 

This book combines within its covers more attractive features for the study of science 
by children than any other book published. It is a reading book, spelling book, com- 
position book, drawing book, geography, history, book on botany, zoology, agricul- 
ture, manufactures, commerce, and natural philosophy. All these subjects are presented 
in a simple and effective style, such as would be adopted by a good teacher on an 
excursion with a class. The class are supposed to be taking excursions, with the help 
of a large pictorial chart of geography, which can be suspended before them in the 
school-room. A key of the chart is inserted in every copy of the book. With this 
book the science of common or familiar things can be taught to beginners. 



NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 

Norton's First Book in Natural Philosophy. 
Peck's Elements of Mechanics. 

A suitable introduction to Bartlett's higher treatises on Mechanical Philosophy, and 
adequate in itself for a complete academical course. 

Bartlett's Analytical Mechanics. 
Bartlett's Acoustics and Optics. 

A complete system of Collegiate Philosophy, by Prof W. H. C. Bartlett, of West 

Point Military Academy. 

Steele's Physics. 

Peck's Ganot. 

GEOLOGY, 

Page's Elements of Geology. 

A volume of Chambers's Educational Course. Practical, simple, and eminently 

calculated to make the study interesting. 

Steele's Geology. 

CHEMISTRY. 

Porter's First Book of Chemistry. 
Porter's Principles of Chemistry. 

The above are widely known as the productions of one of the most eminent scientific 
men of America. The extreme simplicityin the method of presenting the science, while 
exliaustively ti'eatecl, has excited universal commendation. 

Gregory's Chemistry (Organic aud Inorganic). 2 vols. 

The science exhaustively treated. For colleges and medical students. 

Steele's Chemistry. 

36 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS, 



NATURAL SCIENCE — Co/If inued. 



BOTANY. 

Wood's Object-Lessons in Botany. 
Wood's American Botanist and Florist. 
W^ood's New Class-Book of Botany. 

The standard text-books of the United States in this department. In style they are 
simple, popular, and lively ; in arrangement, easy and natural ; in description, graphic 
and scientific. The Tables for Analysis are reduced to a perfect system. They include 
the flora of the whole Unit^id States east of the Eocky Mountains, and are well adapted 
to the regions west. 

Wood's Descriptive Botany. 

A complete flora of all plants growing east of the Mississippi River. 

Wood's Illustrated Plant Record. 

A simple form of blanks for recording observations in the field. 

Wood's Botanical Apparatus. 

A portable trunk, containing drying prens, knife, trowel, microscope, and tweezers, 
and a copy of Wood's " Plant Record," — the collector's complete outfit. 

Willis's Flora of New Je??sey. 

The most useful book of reference e » er published for collectors in all parts of the 
country. It contains also a Botanical Directory, with addresses of living American 
botanists. 

Young's Familiar Lessons in Botany. 

Combining simplicity of diction with some degree of technical and scientific knowl- 
edge, lor intermediate classes. Specially adapted for the Southwest. 



Wood & Steele's Botany. 



See page 33. 



AGRICULTURE. 



Pendleton's Scientific Agriculture. 

A text-book for colleges and schools ; treats of the following topics : Anatomy and 
Physiology of Plants ; Agricultural Meteorology ; Soils as related to Physics ; Chemistry 
of the Atmosphere ; of Plants ; of Soils ; Fertilizers and Natural Manures; Animal Nu- 
trition, &c. By E. M. Pendleton, M. D., Professor of Agriculture in the University of 
Georgia. 



From President A. D. White, Cornell 
University. 
^^ Dear Sir: I have examined your 
'Text- book of Agricultural Science,' and it 
seems to me excellent in view of the pur- 
pose it is intended to serve. Many of 
your chapters interested me especially, 
and all parts of the work seem to combine 
scientific instruction with practical infor- 
mation in proportions dictated by sound 
common sense." 



From President Robinson, of Brown 
University. 
"It is scientific in method as well as in 
matter, comprehensive in plan, natural 
and logical in order, compact and lucid in 
its statements, and must be useful both as 
a text-book in agricultural colleges, and 
as a hand-book for intelligent planters and 
farmers." 



37 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 

NATURAL SCIENCE — CoTi^m-wed. 

PHYSIOLOGY. 

Jarvis's Elements of Physiology. 
Jarvis's Physiology and Laws of Health. 

The only books extant wliicJi approach this subject with a proper view of the tnie 
object of teaching Physiology in schools, viz. , that scholars may know how to take care 
of their own health. In bold contrast with the abstract Anatomies, which children 
learn as they would Greek or Latin (and forget as soon), to discipline the mind, are these 
text-books, using the science as a secondary consideration, and only so far as is neces- 
sary for the comprehension of the laws of health. 

Steele's Physiology. 

See page 33. , 



ASTRONOMY. 

Willard's School Astronomy. 

By means of clear and attractive illustrations, addressing the eye in many cases by 
analogies, careful definitions of all necessary technical terms, a careful avoidance of ver- 
biage and unimportant matter, particular attention to analysis, and a general adoption 
of the simplest methods, Mrs. WiUard has made the best and most attractive elemen- 
tary Astronomy extant. 

Mclntyre's Astronomy and the Globes. 

A complete treatise for intermediate classes. Highly approved. 

Bartlett's Spherical Astronomy. 

The West Point Course, for advanced classes, with applications to the current wants 
of Navigation, Geographj^ and Chronology. 

Steele's Astronomy. 

See page 33. 

NATURAL HISTORY. 

Carll's Child's Book of Natural History. 

Illustrating the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, with application to the 
arts. For beginners. Beautifully and copiously illustrated. 

Anatomical Technology. "Wilder & Gage. 

As applied to the domestic cat. For the use of students of medicine. 



ZOOLOGY. 

Chambers's Elements of Zoology. 

A complete and comprehensive system of Zoology, adapted for academic instruction, 
presenting a systematic view of the animal kingdom as a portion of external nature. 

Steele's Zoology. 

See page 33. 

38 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 







LITERATURE. 

Gilman's First Steps in English Literature. 

The character and plan of this exquisite little text-book may be best iinderstooa irom 
an analysis of its contents : Introduction. Historical Period of Immature English, 
with Chart ; Definition of Terms ; Languages of Europe, with Chart ; Period of Mature 
English, with Chart ; a Chart of Bible Translations, a Bibliography or Guide to General 
Reading, and other aids to the student. 

Cleveland's Compendiums. 3 vols. 12mo. 

English Literature. American Literature. 

"English Literature of the XIXth Century. 

In these volumes are gatliered the cream of the literature of the English-speaking 
people for the school-room and the general reader. Their reputation is national. More 
than 125,000 copies have been sold. 

Boyd's English Classics. 6 vols. Cloth. 12mo. 

Milton's Paradise Lost. Thomson's Seasons 

Young's Night Thoughts. Pollok's Course of Time. 

Cowper's Task, Table Talk, &c. Lord Bacon's Essays. 
This series of annotated editions of great English writers in prose and poetry is 
designed for critical reading and parsing in schools. Prof. J. R. Boyd proves himself 
an editor of high capacity, and the works themselves need no encomium. As auxiliary 
to the study of belles-lettres, &c., these works have no 



Pope's Essay on Man. 16mo. Paper. 
Pope's Homer's Iliad. 32mo. Roan. 

Ti'.e metrical translation of tlie great poet of antiquity, and the matchless "Essay on 
the Nature and State of Man," by Alexander Pope, aflFord superior exercise in literature 
and parsing. 



POLITICAL ECONOMY. 

Champlin's Lessons on Political Economy. 

An improvement on previous treatises, being shorter, yet containing everything 
essential, with a view of recent questions in finance, &c., which is not elsewhere 
found. 

39 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



ESTHETICS. 

Huntington's Manual of the Fine ArtSo 

A \'iew of the rise and i^rogress of art in diflferent countries, j) brief aceonnt of the 
most eminent masters of art, an/i an analysis of the jirinciples-oi art. It is complete 
in itseif, or may psefMe to advantage the critical vroric of Lord Kames. 

Boyd's Karnes's Elements of Criticism. 

The best edition of this standard work ; without the study of which none may be 
considered proficient in the. science <it the perceptions. No other ^st^dyg2aQ. be pursued 
•with, so maj-J£ed sn effect upea the taste and refinement of the pupiL 



ELOCUTION. 

W^atson's Practical Elocution- 

A scientific presentment of .accepted principles of eloetEtleEary drills mtli b!ack- 
l»oard dJagrams and tuli coJieetion of examples for class drill Cioith. 90 pages, l2mo. 

Taverner Graham^ s Reasonable Elocution- 
Based upon tlie belief that trae elocutioii is the right infcerpretatioii of thought, 
and guiding the student to an intelligent appseiatijon, iosiead oi a. tofeEedy oiecliaiiical 
tnowledge, at its rules- 

Zachos's Analytic Elocution. 

All departments of elocution — such as the analysis of (the volee and tT>e sentence, 
phonology, rhythm, esrpressiois, gestua^e, &c. — ^ase itsre aJXSZL^ed. fosj: inatmctioii ia 
classes, iMusteated by eopiftiis es:am.pSes. 



SPEAKERS. 

Nortbend's Lfittle Orator- 

Northend's Child's Speaker- 
Two iittfe works of the same grade but diffetent sdecSaoai^ esatalfijs^ saapte and 

attractive pieces for children under twelve years of age. 

Northend's Young Declaimer.- 

Northend's National Orator- 
Two veiumes of prose, poetry, and diaJogtie^ adapiied t© iatemasliafe aiki grammiy 
classes respsstiv^ly^ 

Northend's Entertaining Dialagues- 

Extracts eminently adapted to cultivate the dramatic faculties, £s weS. as entertain. 

Oakey's Dialogues and Conversations- 

For school exercises and esihibitions, cc^mbiHing useful instE-iiction. 

James's Southern Selections, for Evading and Oratory. 

Embracing exclusively Southern literature. 

Swett*s Common School Speaker- 
Raymond's Patriotic Speaker. 

A superb compilation of modern eloquence and pK^etry, wiSi original dramatic 
exercises. Neaxly every emiueux miaiaai oxaixjr is reprfisfaited. 

40 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARO SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 

Brookfield's First Book in Composition. - 

Making the cultivation of this, importaat art feasible lor the smallest ckiM. By a 
TiBW method, ta ieduce: and stimulate theixght 

Boyd's Composition and Rhetoric. 

This work furnishes all the aid tliat is needful or can Im dssised hi the various 
departments and styles of c0raposi.ti'i>n^ both in prose and versa. 

Day's Art of Rhetoric. 

Noted for exactness, of deSnition^ ckar Mmitatisaa, and philosophieal development 
of subject ; the large share of attention given to' iavention, as. a bmoah of Eheto«ic» 
and the imequalled analysis of style. 



Bardeen's Rhetoric. (In press.) 



PUNCTUATION, 



Cocker's Handbcx)k of Piiinctuation» 

With instructions for capitalization, letter- writing, and p^roof-seadSctg Most works 
oo tiiis subieet ares so abstsuse and technical that the unprofessional reader finds thena 
difficult of comprehension ; bu£ this little treatise is so simple and comprehensive that, 
persons of very ordinary intelligence can readily imderstand and! apply its; p3iiaeiple&- 



MIND AND MORALS. 

Mahan's Intellectual Philosophy. 

The subject exhaustively considered The auithos 'ks& eyinced leasB&g, eaod©*, andl 
independent thinkii^ 

Mahan's Science of Logic. 

A profound analysis of the laws of thought. The system pcjssesses- the merit cf bemg 
intelligible and self-consistent In addition to the author's; esfrefuliy «lab«rat8di views, 
it embraeesresrdtsattainfidby the ablest minds of Great Baritain, Germany^and France, 
in this department. 

Boyd's Elements of Logic. 

A systematic and philosophic condensatioB ®f tlie STibject^ fbrtiaed witb additions 
from Watte, Abererombiej whately, &&. 

Watts on the Misid- 

The " Improvement of the Mind," 'by., Isaac Watts, fe designed as a ginde for the 
attainment of useful knowledge,. As & text-book it is aB|>aFS»lkfed ; astd. tW discipline 
it affords canaiot be too highly esteemed by the educator. 

Peabody's Moral Philosophy. 

A short course,, by the Professor of Christiaia Morals, BaarrainS FQSVCTsilly, for the 
Freshman class and! for Irigh schools. 

Butler's Analogy. Hobarfs Analysis. 

Edited by Prof Charles E. West, of Br©&klyii He^ts SesroiBaffy. 22S i^gesw IStaot. 
Cloth. 

Alden's Text-Book of Ethics. 

For young pupils. To aid in systematizing the ethical teachings of the Bible, an<3 
point out the coincidencesilDetweeii the instructions- of the sacred volume and the sound 
conclusions of reason^ 



THE NATIONAL SERIES Ot STANDARO SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



GOVERNMENT. 

Howe's Young Citizen's Catechism. 

Explaining the duties of district, town, city, county, State, and United States 
officers, vvitli rules lor paiiiamentary and commercial business. 

Young's Lessons in Civil Government. 

A couip.'eljcnsive view of Government, and abstract of the laws showing the rights, 
duties, and resijonsibilities of citizens. 

Mansfield's Political Manual. 

This is a complete view of the theory and practice of the General and State Govern- 
ments, designed as a text-book. The author is an esteemed and able professor of con- 
stitutional law, widely known for his sagacious utterances in tlie public press. 

Martin's Civil Government. 

Emanating from Massachusetts State Normal School. Historical and statistical. 
Each chapter summarized by a succinct statement of underlying principles on which 
good government is based. 

Gallaudet's International Law. 

Published in 1879, and the only work bringing the subject within the compass of a 
convenient text-book. 

Antebellum Constitutions. 

A complete collection of State and Federal Constitutions as they stood before the 
Civil War of 1861. With an essay on changes made during the reconstruction period, 
by Wilmot L. Warren. 




First Locomotive. 

42 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SOHOOL-BOOKif. 

-s*,- . . 

MODERN LAN GUAGES, 

A COMPLETE COURSE IN THE GERMAN. 

ey James H. Worman, A.M., Professor of Modern Languages in the Adelphi Acad' 
*ny, Brooklyn, L. I. 

Worman's First German Book. 
Worman's Second German Book. 
Worman's Elementary German Grammar. 
Worman's Complete German Grammar. 

These volumes are designed for intermediate and advanced classes respectively. 

Though following the same general method with " Otto " (that of '• Gaspey "), our 
author differs essentially in its apj^lication. He is more practical, more systematic 
more accurate, and besides introduces a number of invaluable features which have 
never before been combined in a German grammar. 

Among other things, it may be claimed for Professor Worman that he has been ih« 
first to introduce, in an American text-book lor learning German, a system of analogy and 
comparison with other languages. Our best teachers are also enthusiastic about his 
methods of inculcating the art of speaking, of understanding the spoken language, of 
correct pronunciation ; the sensible and convenient original classification of nouns (in 
four declensions), and of irregular verbs, also deserves much praise. We also note the 
use of heavy type to indicate etymological changes in the paradigms and, in the exer- 
cises, the parts which specially illustrate preceding rules. 

Worman's Elementary German Reader. 
Worman's Collegiate German Reader. 

The finest and most judicious compilation of classical and standard German literature. 
These works embrace, progressively arranged, selections from the masterpieces of 
Goethe, Schiller, Korner, Seume, Uhland, Freiligrath, Heine, Schlegel, Holty, Lenau, 
Wieland, Herder, Lessing, Kant, Fichte, Schelliug, Winkelmann, Humboldt, Kanke, 
Raumer, Menzel, Gervinus, &c., and contain complete Goethe's " Iphigenie," Schiller's 
"Jungfrau;" also, for instruction in modern conversational German, Benedix's 
" Eigensinn." 

There are, besides, biographical sketches of each author contributing, notes, explan- 
atory and philological (after the text), grammatical references to all leading grammars, 
as well as the editor's own, and an adequate Vocabulary. 

Worman's German Echo. 

Worman's German Copy-Books, 3 Numbers. 

On the same plan as the most approved systems for English penmanship, with 
progressive copies. 

CHAUTAUQUA SERIES. 
First and Second Books in German. 

By the natural or Pestalozzian System, for teaching the language without the help 
of the Learner's Vernacular. By James H. Worman, A. M. 

These books belong to the new Chautauqua German Language Series, and are in- 
tended for beginners learning to speak German. The peculiar features of its method 
are : — 

1. It teaches the language by direct appeal to illustrations of the objects 
referred to, and does not allow the student to guess what is said. He speaks from the 
first hour understandingly and accurately. Therefore, 

2. Grammar is taught both analytically and synthetically throughout tht 
course. The beginning is made with the auxiliaries of tense and mood, because their 
kinship with the English makes them easily intelligible ; then follow the declensions of 
nouns, articles, and other parts of speech, always systematically arranged. It is easy 
to confuse the pupil by giving him one person or one case at a time. This pernicious 
practice is discarded. Books that beget unsystematic habits of thought are worse than 
wortlless. 

43 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



MODERN LANGUAGES— Continued. 



3. The rvtmss are introduced after the examples ; the purpsse beiag to employ 

fii'st the lower or sense faculty of the mind. 

4. Everything is taught by contrast and assGciatioa, to avoid overtaxing the 
memory at the expense of the reason. 

5. The lessons convey much practical varied icformation, and. engage the ob- 
serving as well as the thuiking faculties of the learner's mind. 

In short, this le-ief series coE-tains within its few pages all the essentials of German 
Grammar so presented t&at their mastery is easy, and the student pxepared upon its 
completion to enter upon the study of the moi^e recondite, complicated, and irregular 
principles M the laisguage. 



From PfiOF. Schels be Vere, aidhor afn 
French Grammar, Studies in English, <S:e., 
&c.. University <sf Virgima^ Vs,, 

Prof. Jjjues EL We^MiBT. 

My deajb Ssr, — Your very liberal piib- 
lishei's (Messrs. A. S. Barnes & Co.| have 
•done use the honor to send me a copy of 
your excellent works. The First French aEd 
the Second German Book. It needed 
no introductioa in the shape of compli- 
snentary notices sass nomhres to call my 
•attention to the emineiit laerits of these 
valuable puWieations. But I was sin- 
cerely giad that the psblic at large, as 
well as me, confj^res litteraires dans ce 
departement d« la Liaguistique, have at 
length discerned the great advantages o€ 
your method, and enabled you and your 
publisliers t« bring out your works in a 
style so truly iii syiiipathy witi'. the in- 
trinsic value of the different volumes. 

Most uufortuiiafceiy — for how I should 
delight t© wield such exguisiteiy shaped 
and sharpened instsruments to make my 
way into thick •crania aitd dense bc-ains ! 
— our university way of teaching does 
not admit of the admirable method i">r6- 
scribed in your volumes. The laws of 
the Medee are as irreversf0le here as the 
Decrees of Mr. Jefferson, and when I fan- 
cied I had obtained the victory, I found 
Euy.self faced by a stern- decree. All I <5an. 
■do, therefore, is to recommend your v/orks 
fiiost eanaesfcly and most urgently, in the 
jioint of economy, to my young graduates,, 
hundreds of whom leave us every harvest 
time, to scatter their seeds broadcast over 
1 he vast fields of the South, and to profess 
boldly their adherence to the confessions 
of their teachers. 

Wishing you heartily the best success, 
and hoping that I shall be able hereafter 
also modestly to assist you, I remain, very 
sincerely yours, Sckele De Verb. 

From Head M-ctSter, Boston (Mass.) Normal 
School. 
Messrs. A. S. Barnes & Co., — Iwantto 
fchaaik you fox' the copies of those beautiful 



little books for beginners in German and 
French pnepared by Professor Worman, 
The Professor is taking his pupils 
aiong the right road rapidly and delight- 
fully. 

Whatever may be saki of the tedious- 
ness of learning the grammar of a new- 
language, I thiak all will agi^ee that the 
great labor is mastering the vocabulary. 
And it is just at this point that I think 
these books are-of great use. The exercises 
are sodeA^elopedout of |)ictured objects and 
aetioas, and are so well graduated that 
almost from the very outis-et they go alone. 
A beginner would ha%'e littfe use for 
a dictioaary in reading the * ' First French 
Book;" and yet the words ape so introduced 
and so often used, that the meaning is 
kept constantly before the mind, without 
the intervection of a translatioa. By this 
means the pupil soon saakes th«m his 
permanent possession. 

A dozsi volumes as weSi graduatsd as 
tltese would do much to give the studejsi 
an extended voeabuiary. I trust Professor 
Wotrmaa will continue his good work. 
Yours very truly^ 

L- DuNTOif. 

FrGm Mb. E. T. Tiviioa., <?/ Be&mr, Pa,. 

Messrs. A. S. B^r^tes & Oo. 

Beau Sirs, — Your kindness in sending 
books appreciated. I have -examined Pro- 
fessor Worman's ' ' First French Book " and 
I think it the best thing of the kind I have 
ever seeix. There is just enough of th^ 
grammai" combined to make the natural 
method practicable. I shall introduce 
the work into my school this fall. We have 
been using Professor Worman's German 
books and are very much pleased with 
them. The " Echo," in paiti'cular, de- 
lights pupils. They m&kie more advance- 
ment in one yeac- by this method than in 
two by fee old manner of teaching. 

W.isMng you success in j'our business, 
I am 

Yours very truly, 

E. T. Tatlop- 



u 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



FRENCH. 

Worman's First Book in French, 

The first book in the companion series to the successfiil GsTman Seri^ by the ! 
author, and inteiMJed. for t&ose ■wisbkag t© speak Fr&ack. Tbe peculiar f satujss &i Ps®* 
fessor Wormau's new method are : — 

1. Tbe French language i& taaght witbaut ths hdp of English. 

2. It appeals to pictorial illustrati&ns for the wamg* of ofejee^s* 
8. The learner speaks from the tirst hour uvder standingly. 

4. Grammar is teught to prevent missteps in composition. 

5. The laws of the language are taught amil%ticall'U to laake them the Jeamer's ow& 

inferences (= deductions). 

6. Eapidity of progress bj^ dependence upon association and contrasts. 

7. Strictly graded lessons' and coDversations on familim; interesting, said msti^uctive 

topics, providing the words and idioms- oi every-day life. 

8. Paradigms to give a systematic treatnient to variable inSsctions. 

9. Heawj type for inflections^ to Hiake the eye a help to the mind. 

10. Hair line type for the silent letters, and liiik& fos worsls to fe© coEtseete^, in order 
tO" teach an accurate pronunciation. 

Worman's French Echo. 

This is not a mass of meaningless and parrot-like phrases thnrmit tog&titer to'ff 
a tourist's use, to bewilder hiaa whes in the presence of a Frenchman. 

The " Echo de Paris " is a strictly progressive conversaMonnl booh, beginning with sim-- 
ple phrases and leading by frequent repetition to a mastery of th& idirnns and of tke 
every-day language \ssed in business, on traveJ, at a hotel, i» the chit-chat of 
society. 

It presupposes an elementary knowledge of the language-, such as Huay be acquired 
from the First French Book by Professor Worman^ and famishes a nmniing French 
text, allowing the leasner of course to find the- meanmg of the words (in the appended 
Vocabulary), and forcing him, by tbe absence of Engiiah in tbe text, t» think in 
French. 

Cher Monsieur Woemah, — Vous me \ tovMs les eirconstsnces possibles de la vie 
rr.an,/iosrw,r»^„ ^r>;T>^r^»>c,n7.-«rnfi.c '«T?.«v.r.riQ ordiualre. Voycz FimBisttse avantage 

ii vous transporte en France ;. du premier 
mot, je ra'imagine, et aoes eieves avec moi, 
que nous sommes a Paiis, dans la rue, sur 
une piace, dans une gare, dana un salon, 
dans une chambre, voire m§me a la cui- 
sine ; Je parle eommie avec des Frain§ais ; 
les eieves ne songent pas a traduire de 
I'anglais pour me repoadre ; ils pensent 
en frangais ; ils sent Frangais pour le 
moment par les yeux, pai I'oreiHe, par la 
pensee. Quel autre livre p&urj^t produire 
cette illusion? . . ." 

Votre tout aevou6, 

A. DE ROFGEMONT, 



demandezmon opinion'sur votre " Echo de 
Paris" et quel usage j.'en fais. Je ne 
saurais mieux vous repondre qu'en repro- 
duisant une lettre que j'ecrivais deraiere- 
ment a un coilegue qui etait, ni'e disait-il, 
"bien fatigue de ces insipides livres de 
dialogues. " 

" Vous ne connaissez done pas," lui 
disais-je, " 'I'Echo de Paris,' edite par le 
Professor Wornian? C'est un veritable 
tresor, merveilleusement adapte au devel- 
oppemeut de Ja conversation familiere et 
pratique, telle qu'on la veut aujourd'hui. 
Get excellent livre met successivement en 
scene, d'une maniere vive et interessante, 

Illustrated Language Primers. 

Fbench an3> English. German and English. 

Spanish and English. 
The names of common objects properly illustrated and arranged in easy lessons. 

Pujol's Complete French Class-Book. 

Offers in one volume, methodically arranged, a complete Frieneh course — usually 
embraced in series of from five to twelve books, including the bulky and e:xpensive 
lexicon. Here are grammar, conversation, and choice literature, selected from the 
best French authors. Each branch is thoroughly handled ; and the student, having 
diligently completed the course as prescribed, may consider himself, without furthei 
application, au fait in the most polite and elegant language of modern titne*. 

45 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



MODERN LANGUAGES — Coniinttert. 

Pujol's French Grammar, Exercises, Reader. 3 vols. 

These volumes contain Part I., Parts II. and III., and Part IV. of tlie Complete Class- 
Book respectively, for the convenience of scholars and teachers. The Lexicon is bound 
with each part. 

Maurice-Poitevin's Grammaire Frangaise. 

American schools are at last supplied with an American edition of this famous text- 
'look. Many of our best institutions have for years been procuring it from abroad 
rather than forego the advantages it offers. The policy of putting students who have 
acquired some proficiency from the ordinary text-books, into a Grammar written in the 
vernacular, cannot be too highly commended. It allbrds an opportunity for finish and 
review at once, while embodying abundant practice of its own niles. 



ANCIENT LANGUAGES. 




LATIN. 

Searing's Virgil's ^neid. 

1. It contains only the first six books of the Mn&\± 2. A very carefully constracted 
Dictionary. 8. Sufficiently copious notes. 4. Grammatical references to four leadmg 
Grammars. 5. Numerous illustrations of the highest order. 6. A superb map of the 
Mediterranean and adjacent countries. 7. Dr. S. H. Taylor's " Questions on the Mneii.. '* 
8. A Metrical Index, and an essay on the Poetical Style. 9. A photographic facsimile 
of an early Latin MS. 10. The text is according to Jahn, but paragraphed accordmg 
to Ladewig. 11. Superior mechanical execution. 



"My attention was called to Searing's 
Virgil by the fact of its containing a vo- 
cabulary which would obviate the neces- 
sity of procuring a lexicon. But use in 
the class-room has impressed me most 
favorably with the accuracy and just pro- 
portion of its notes, and the general ex- 
cellence of its grammatical suggestions. 
The general character of the book, in its 



paper, its typogi'aphy, and its engravings, 
is highly commendable, and the facsimile 
manuscript is a valuable feature. I take 
great pleasure in commending the book to 
all who do not wish a complete edition of 
Virgil. It suits o\vc short school courses 
admirably." — Henry L. Bolt wood, Mas- 
ter Princeton Hiffh School, III. 



46 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 




GREEK. 



Scarborough's First Lessons in Greek. 

A new two-term text-book, with copious notes and references to the Grammars of 
Goodwin and Hadley, and an adequate Vocabulary. Designed as an Elementary Drill- 
book on the inflections and syntax of the Greek language. 

I. These Lessons embrace all the essential points of the Greek etymology and syn- 
tax, and are sufficient to introduce the learner to Goodwin's Greek Reader, Xenophon's 
Anabasis, or similar Greek. 

II. The notes and references are full enough in every particular to give the 
student a thorough knowledge of the rudimentary forms, inflections, and principles of 
the Greek language. 

III. The verb is introduced early, so that the inflections of nouns and verbs 
are given side by side, and the pupil is at once made acquainted with complete 
sentences. 

IV. As the student advances, the prineii)les of Greek syntax are gradually developed 
so that he is led step by step from the simple to the more complex. 

V. The book is divided into two parts. The first consists of seventy-eight lessons, 
with Gi'eek and English lessons alternating. The second, of selections from the 
Anabasis (parts of the 1st and 6th chapters, Bk. I.) and the Memorabilia (the Choice of 
Hercules, Bk. II., chapter 1). 

VI. The hook is sufficient for all purposes in rudimentary instruction. 



From The Religious Herald, Hartford, Ct. 
" We are highly plea,sed with this ele- 
mentary work. Tlie eighty-five lessons of 
part first may well be taken in fifteen to 
twenty weeks, and part second may be 
pursued to advantage, or the scholar may 
go directly from tlie first part to the Ana- 
basis. The arrangement of lessons is 
good, which the teacher will employ at 
his discretion so as to secure the most 
efiicient work of his classes." 

'* I have examined Professor Scarbo- 
rough's 'First Lessons in Greek' with 
.some care, and am much interested in 



the book. It is clear and accurate, de- 
velopes the subject naturally and easily 
and is ha,ndsomely printed. The methods 
of a practical teacher are everywhere 
seen." Wm. G. Frost, 

Professor of Greek, Oberlin College, Okie. 

"I have examined Professor Scarbo- 
rough's 'First Lessons in Greek' with 
much care. I am exceedingly well pleased 
with tlie work and think it in every way 
well adapted to the uses for which it is 
intended. " 

Wm. H. Tibball, 
Principal of Poland (0.), Seminary. 



47 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



SCHOOL MUSIC. 

The National School Singer. 

Bright, new music for the day school, embracing Song Lessons, Exercise Songs, Songs 
of Study, Order, Promptness, and Obedience, of Industry and Nature, Patriotic and 
Temperance Songs, Opening and Closing Songs ; in fact, everything needed in the 
school-room. By an eminent musician and composer. 

Jepson's Music Readers. 3 vols. 

These ar-e not books trom which children simply learn songs, parrot-like, but teach 
the subject progressively, the scholar learning to read music by methods similar to 
those employed in teaching him to read printed language. Any teacher, however igno- 
rant of music, provided he can, upon trial, simply sound the scale, may teach it without 
assistance, and will end by being a good singer liimself. The '' Elementary Music 
Reader," or first volume, fully develops the system. The two companion volumes carry 
the same method into the higher grades, but their use is not essential. * 

The First Reader is also published in three parts, at thirty cents each, for those who 
prefer them in that form. 

Nash and Bristow's Cantara. 

The first volume is a complete musical text-book for schools of everj' grade. No. 2 is 
a choice selection of solos and part songs. The authors are Directors of Music 
in the public schools of New York City, in which these books are the standard of 
instruction. 

The Polytechnic. 

Collection of Part Songs for High and Normal Schools and Clubs. This work eon- 
tains a quantity of exceedingly valuable material, heretofore accessible only in sheet 
form or scattered in numerous and costly works. The collection of " College Songs " 
is a very attractive feature. 

Curtis's Little Singer, — School Vocalist. 

Kingsley's School-Room Choir, — Young Ladies' 

Harp. 
Hager's Echo (A Cantata). 



SCHOOL DEVOTIONAL EXERCISE. 

Brooks's School Manual of Devotion. 

This volume contains daily devotional exercises, consisting of a hymn, selections of 
Scripture for alternate reading by teacher and pupils, and a prayer. Its value for open- 
ing and closing school is apparent. 

Brooks's School Harmonist. 

Contains appropriate tunes for each hymn in the " Manual of Devotion " described 
above. 

Bartley's Songs for the School. 

A selection of appropriate hymns of an unsectarian character, carefully classified 
and set to popular and " singable " tunes, for opening and closing exercises. The Secu- 
lar Department is full of bright and well-selected music. 

49 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 
TEACHERS' AIDS AND SCHOOL REQUISITES. 

CHARTS AND MAPS. 

Baade's Reading Case. 

This remarkable piece of school-room furniture is a receptacle containing a number 
of primary cards. By an arrangement of slides on the front, one sentence at a time is 
shown to the class. Twenty-eight thousand transpositions may be made, affording a 
variety of progressive exercises which no other piece of apparatus offers. One of its 
best features is, that it is so exceedingly simple as not to get out of order, while it may 
be operated witli one linger. 

Clark's Grammatical Chart. 

Exhibits the whole science of language in one comprehensive diagram. 

Davies's Mathematical Chart. 

Elementary mathematics clearly taught to a full class at a glance. 

De Rupert's Philological and Historical Chart. 

This very comprehensive chart shows the birth, development, and progress of the 
literatures of the world ; their importance, their influence on each other, and the cen- 
tury in which such influence was experienced. ; with a list for each country of standard 
authors and their best works. Illustrating also the division of languages into classes, 
families, and groups. Giving date of settlement, discovery, or conquest of all countries, 
with their government, religion, area, population, and the percentage of enrolment for 
1872, in the primary schools of Europe and America. 

Eastman's Chirographic Chart. Family Record. 
Giffins's Number Chart. 

Teaches addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Size, 23 x 31 inches. 

Marcy's Eureka Tablet. 

A new system for the alphabet, by which it may be taught without fail in nine lessons. 

McKenzie's Elocutionary Chart. 
Monteith's Pictorial Chart of Geography. 

A crayon picture illustrating all the divisions of the earth's surface commonly 
taught in geography. 
Wm. L. Dickinson, Siiperintendent of in all good geographies. I think the 
Schools, Jersey City, says. chart would be a great help in any pri- 

" It is an admirable amplification of the mary department," 
system of pictorial illustration adopted 

Monteith's Reference Maps. School and Grand Series. 

Names all laid down in small type so that to the pupil at a short distance they are 
outline maps, while they serve as their own key to the teacher. 

Page's Normal Chart. 

The whole science of elementary sounds tabulated. 

Scofield's School Tablets. 

On five cards, exhibiting ten surfaces. These tablets teach orthography, reading, 
object-lessons, color, form, &c. 

Watson's Phonetic Tablets. 

Four cards and eight surfaces ; teaching pronunciation and elocution phonetically. 
For class exercises. 

Whitcomb's Historical Chart. 

A student's topical historical chart, from the creation to the present time, including 
results of the latest chronological research. Arranged with spaces for summary, that 
pupils may prepare and review their own chart in connection with any text-book. 

Willard's Chronographers. 

Historical. Four numbers : Ancient chronographer, English chronographer, Ameri- 
can chronographer, temi)le of time (general). Dates and events represented to the eye. 

50 



TH£ NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD CCHOOL-BOOKS. 

APPARATUS. 

Bock's Physiological Apparatus. 

A coUection of twenty-seven anatomical models. 

Harrington's Fractional Blocks. 
Harrington's Geometrical Blocks. 

These patent blocks are hinged, so that each form can be dissected. 

Kendall's Lunar Telluric Globe. 

Moon, globe, and tellurian combined. 

Steele's Chemical Apparatus. 
Steele's Geological Cabinet. 
Steele's Philosophical Apparatus. 
Wood's Botanical Apparatus. 



RECORDS. 

Cole's Self-Reporting Class Book. 

For saving the teacher's labor in averaging. At each opening are a full set of tables 
showing any scholar's standing at a glance, and entirely obviating the necessity of 
computation. 

Tracy's School Record. {Fo^SefeSn.} 

For keeping a simple but exact record of attendance, deportment, and scholarship. 
The larger edition contains also a calendar, an extensive list of topics for compositions 
and colloquies, themes for short lectures, suggestions to young teachers, &c. 

Benet's Individual Records. 
Brooks's Teacher's Register. 

Presents at one view a record of attendance, recitations, and deportment for the 
whole term. 

Carter's Record and Roll-Book. 

This is the most complete and convenient record offered to the public. Besides the 
usual spaces for general scholarship, deportment, attendance, &c., for each name and 
day, there is a space in red lines enclosing six minor spaces in blue for recording 
recitations. 

National School Diary. 

A little book of blank forms for weekly report of the standing of each scholar, from 
teacher to parent. A great convenience. 



REWARDS. 

National School Currency. 

'A little box containing certificates in the form of money. The most entertaining and 
stimulating system of school rewards. The scholar is paid for his merits and fined for 
his short-comings. Of course the most faithful are the most successful in business. 
In this way the use and value of money and the method of keeping accounts are also 
taught. One box of currency wiU supply a school of fifty pupils. 

51 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 



PENMANSHIP, PENS, &c. 

Beers's System of Progressive Penmanship. 
Per dozen 

This " round hand " system of Penmanship, in twelve numbers, com mends itself by 
its simplicity and thoroughness. The first four numbers are primary books. Nos. 6 to 
7, advanced books for boys. Nos. 8 to 10, advanced books for girls. Nos. 11 and 12, 
ornamental penmanship. These books are printed from steel plates (engraved by 
McLees), and are unexcelled in mechanical execution. Large quantities are annually- 
sold. 

Beers's Slated Copy Slips. Per set 

All beginners should practise, for a few weeks, slate exercises, familiarizing them 
with the form of the letters, the motions of the hand and arm, &c., &c. These copy 
slips, 32 in number, supply all the copies found in a complete series of writing-books, 
at a trifling cost. 

Payson, Dunton, & Scribner's Copy-Books. 
Per dozen 

The National System of Penmanship, in three distinct series : (1) Common 
School Series, comprising the first six numbers ; (2) Business Series, Nos. 8, 11, and 
12 ; (3) Ladies' Series, Nos. 7, 9, and 10. 

Fulton & Eastman's Chirographic Charts . . 

To embellish the school-room walls, and furnish class exercise in the elements of 
Penmanship. 

Payson's Copy-Book Cover. Per hundred . . 

Protects every page except the one in use, and furnishes "lines" with propft* slope 
for the penman, under. Patented. 

National Steel Pens. Card with all kinds . . . 

Pronounced by competent judges the perfection of American-made pens, and supe- 
rior to any foreign article. 



SCHOOL SERIES. 

School Pen, per gross $0.60 

Academic Pen do 63 

Fine Pointed Pen, per gross ... .70 

POPULAR SERIES. 

Capitol Pen, per gross $1 00 

do. do. per box of2doz. . . .25 

Bullion Pen (imit. gold) per gi'oss .75 

Ladies' Pen do. . . .63 



Index Pen, per gross ..... ^0.75 

BUSINESS SERIES. 

Albata Pen, per gross $0.40 

Bank Pen, do 70 

Empire Pen do 70 

Commercial Pen, per gross ... .60 
Express Pen, do. ... .75- 

Falcon Pen, do 70 

Elastic Pen, do. ... .75 



Stimpson's Scientific Steel Pen. Per gross . . $1.50 

One forward and two backward arches, ensuring great strength, well-balanced elas- 
ticity, evenness of point, and smoothness of execution. One gross in twelve contains a- 
Scieatific Gold Pen. 

Stimpson's Ink-Retaining Holder. Per dozen . $1.50 

A simple apparatus, which does not get out of order, withholds at a single dip a.s 
much ink as the pen would otherwise realize from a dozen trips to the inkstand, which 
it supplies with moderate and easy flow. 

Stimpson's Gold Pen, $3.00 ; with Ink Retainer . $4.60 
Stimpson's Penman's Card 25 

One dozen Steel Pens (assorted points) and Patent Ink-retaining Pen-holder. 

52 



THE UATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY. 

LIBRARY AND MISCELLANEOUS 
PUBLICATIONS. 



TEACHERS' WORKING LIBRARY. 
Object Lessons. Welch. 

Tins is a complete exposition of the popular modern system of "object-teaching," 
for teachers of primary classes. 

Theory and Practice of Teaching. Page. 

This volume has, without doubt, been read by two hundred thousand teachers, and 
its popularity remains undiminished, large editions being exhausted yearly. It was 
the pioneer, as it is now the patriarch, of professional works for teachers. 

The Graded School. Wells. 

The proper way to organize graded schools is here illustrated. The author has availed 
himself of the best elements of the several systems prevalent in Boston, New York, 
Philadelphia, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and other cities. 

The Normal. Holbrook. 

Carries a working school on its visit to teachers, showing the most approved methods 
of teaching all the common branches, including the technicalities, explanations, demon- 
strations, and definitions introductory and peculiar to each branch. 

School Management. Holbrook. 

Treating of the teacher's qualifications ; how to overcome difficulties in self and 
others ; organization ; discipline ; methods of inciting diligence and order ; strategy 
in management ; object-teaching. 

The Teachers' Institute. Fowle. 

This is a volume of suggestions inspired by the author's experience at institutes, in 
the instruction of young teachers. A thousand points of interest to this class are most 
satisfactorily dealt with. 

Schools and Schoolmasters. Dickens. 

Appropriate selections from the writings of the great novelist. 

The Metric System. Davies. 

Considered with reference to its general introduction, and embracing the views of 
John Quincy Adams and Sir John Herschel. 

The Student ; The Educator. Phelps. 2 vols. 
The Discipline of Life. Phelps. 

The authoress of these works is one of the most distinguished writers on education, 
and they cannot fail to i)rnve a valuable addition to the School and Teachers' Libraries, 
being in a high degree botli interesting and instructive. 

Law of Public Schools. Burke. 

By Fiiilpy Burke, Couiisellor-at-Law. A new volume in "Barnes's Teachers' Library 
Series." 12mo, cloth. 

"Mr. Burke has given us the latest 
expositions of the law on this highly im- 
portant subject. I shall cordially com- 
mend his treatise." — Theodore Dwight, 
LL.D. 

From the Hon. Joseph M. Beck, Judge of 
Supreme Court, Inwa. 

" I haA'e examined with considerable 
tare the manuscript of ' A Treatise on the 



Law of Public Schools. ' by Finley Burke, 
Esq., of Council Bluffs. In my opinion, 
the work will be of great value to school 
teachers and school officers, and to law- 
yers. The subjects treated of are thought- 
fully considered and thoroughly examined, 
and correctly and systematically arranged. 
The style is perspicuous. The legal doc- 
trines of the work, so far as I have been 



53 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY. 



MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS - Continued. 



able to consider them, are sound. I have 
examined qnite a 7jtuniber of the authori- 
ties cited ; they sustain the riiles an- 
noimced in tlie text. Mr. Burke is an able 
and industrious member of the bar of the 
Supreme Court of this State, and has a 
high standing in the profession of the 
law." 

" I fully concur in the opinion of Judge 
Beck, above expressed." — John F. Dil- 
lon. Naw York, May, 1880. 

Sioux City, Iowa, May, 1880. 
I have examined the manuscript of 
Finley Burke, Esq. , and find a full citation 
of all the cases and decisions pertaining to 
the school law, occurring in the courts of 
the United States. This volume contains 



valuable and important information con- 
cerning school law, which has never before 
been accessible to either teacher or school 
officer. A. Armstrong, 

Supt, Schools, Sioux City, Iowa. 

Des Moines, May 15, 1880. 
The examination of " A Treatise on the 
Law of Public Schools," prepared by Fin- 
ley Burke, Esq. , of Council Bluffs, has 
given me much pleasure. So far as I 
know, there is no work of similar charac- 
ter now in existence. I think such a work 
will be exceedingly useful to lawyers, 
school officers, and teachers, and I hope 
that it may find its way into their hands. 

G. W. VON COELLN, 

Supt. Public Inst, for Iowa. 



Teachers' Handbook. Phelps. 

By William P. Phelps, Principal of Minnesota State Normal School. Embracing the 
objects, history, organization, and management of teachers' institutes, followed by 
methods of teaching, in detail, for all the fundamental branches. Every young teacher, 
every practical teacher, every experienced teacher even, needs this book. 

This is the key-note of the present excel- 
lent volume. In view of the supreme 



From the New York Tribune. 



"The discipline of the school should 
prepare the child for the discipline of life. 
The country schoolmaster, accordingly, 
holds a position of vital interest to the 
destiny of the republic, and should neg- 
lect no means for the wise and efficient 
discharge of his significant functions. 



importance of the teacher's calling, Mr. 
Phelps has presented an elaborate system 
of instruction in the elements of learning, 
with a complete detail of methods and 
processes, illustrated with an abundance 
of practical examples and enforced by 
judicious councils." 



Topical Course of Study. Stone. 

This volume is a compilation from the courses of study of our most successful public 
schools, and the best thought of leading educators. The pupil is enabled to make full 
use of any aad all text-books bearing on the given topics, and is incited to use all other 
information within his reach. 

American Education. Mansfield. 

A treatise on the principles and elements of education, as practised in this country, 
with ideas towards distinctive republican and Christian education. 

American Institutions. De Tocqueville. 

A valuable index to the genius of our Government. 

Universal Education. Mayhew. 

The subject is approached with the clear, keen perception of one who has observed 
its necessity, and realized its feasibility and expediency alike. The redeeming and 
elevating power of improved common schools constitutes the inspiration of the volume. 

Oral Training Lessons. Barnard. 

The object of this very useful work is to furnish material for instructors to impart 
orally to their classes, in branches not usually taught in common schools, embracing a!' 
departments of natural science and much general knowledge. 

Lectures on Natural History. Chadbourne. 

Alfording many themes for oral instruction in this interesting science, especially in 
schools where it is not pursued as a class exercise. 



54 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY. 

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS — Co?i<i7iuei. 

Outlines of Mathematical Science. Davies. 

A manual suggesting the best methods of presenting mathematical instruction on the 
part of the teacher, with that comprehensive view of the whole which is necessary to 
the intelligent treatment of a part, in science. 

Nature and Utility of Mathematics. Davies. 

An elaborate and lucid exposition of the principles which lie at the foundation of 
pure mathematics, with a highly ingenious application of their results to the develop- 
ment of the essential idea of the ditierent branches of the science. 

Mathematical Dictionary. Davies and Peck. 

This cyclopsedia of math(imatical science defines, with completeness, precision, and 
accuracy, every technical term ; thus constituting a popular treatise on each branch, 
and a general view of the whole subject. 

How Not to Teach. Giffin. 

A collection of one hundred things the teacher should not do, with the reasons why. 
Also, an appendix, containing apt quotations for use in schools. 

How to Teach. Giflfin. (In press.) 
The Popular Educator. Barnes. 

In seven volumes, containing interesting and profitable educational miscellany. 

Liberal Education of 'Women. Orton. 

Treats of " the demand and the method ; " being a compilation of the best and most 
advanced thought on this subject, by the leading writers and educators in England and 
America. Edited by a professor in Vassar College. 

Education Abroad. Northrop. 

A thorough discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of sending American 
children to Europe to be educated ; also, papers on legal prevention of illiteracy, study, 
and health, labor as an educator, and other kindred subjects. 

The Teacher and the Parent. Northend. 

A treatise upon common-school education, designed to lead teachers to view their 
calling in its true light, and to stimulate them to fidelity. 

The Teachers' Assistant. Northend. 

A natural continuation of the author's previous work, more directly calculated Tor 
daily use in the administration of school discipline and instruction. 

School Government. Jew^ell. 

Full of advanced ideas on th.& subject which its title indicates. The criticisms upon 
current theories of punishment and schemes of administration have excited general 
attention and comment. 

Grammatical Diagrams. Jew^ell. 

The diagram system of teaching grammar explained, defended, and improved. The 
curious in Uterature, the searcher for truth, those interested in new inventions, as well 
as the disciples of Professor Clark, who would see their favorite theory fairly treated, 
all want this book. There are many who would like to be made familiar with this 
system before risking its use in a class. The opportunity is here afforded. 

The Complete Examiner. Stone. 

Consists of a series of questions on every English branch of school and academic 
instruction, with reference to a given page or article of leading text-books where the 
answer may be found in full. Prepared to aid teachers in securing certificates, pupils 
in preparing for promotion, and teachers in selecting re\'iew questions. 

55 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY, 

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS — Corttiuued. 

School Amusements. Root. 

To assist teachers in making the school interesting, with hints upon the manage- 
ment of the scliool-room. Rules lor military and gymnastic exercises are included- 
Illustrated by diagrams. 

Institute Lectures. Bates. 

These lectures, originally delivered before institutes, are based upon various topics in 
the departments of mental and moral cultare. The volume is calculated to prepare 
the will, awaken the inquiry, and stimulate the thought of the zealous teacher. 

Method of Teachers' Institutes. Bates. 

Sets forth the best method of conducting institutes, with a detailed account of the 
object, organization, plan of instruction, and true theory of education on which such 
instruction should be based. 

History and Progress of Education. 

The systems of education prevailing in all nations and ages, the gradual advance to 
the present time, and the bearing of the past upon the present, in this regard, are 
Avorthy of the careful investigatiou of all concerned in education. 

Higher Education. Atlas Series. 

A collection of valuable essays. Contents. International Communication by Lan- 
guage, by Philip Gilbert Hamerton ; Reform in Higher Education ; Upper Schools, by 
President James McCosh ; Study of Greek and Latin Classics, by Prof. Charles 
Elliott ; The University System in Italy, by Prof. Angelo de Gubernatis, of the 
University of Florence ; Universal Education, by Ray Palmer ; Industrial Art Educa- 
tion, by Baton S. Drone. 



LIBRARY OF LITERATURE. 

Milton's Paradise Lost. (Boyd's Illustrated Edition.) 
Young's Night Thoughts. do. 

Cowper's Task, Table Talk, &c. do. 
Thomson's Seasons. do. 

Pollok's Course of Time. do. 

These works, models of the best and purest literature, are beautifully illustrated, and 
notes explain all doubtful meanings. 

Lord Bacon's Essays. (Boyd's Edition.) 

Another grand English classic, affording the highest example of purity in language 
and style. 

The Iliad of Homer. (Translated by Pope.) 

Those who are unable to read this greatest of ancient writers in the original should 
not fail to avail themselves of this standard metrical version. 

Pope's Essay on Man. 

This is a model of pure classical English, which should be read, also, by every teacher 
and scholar for the sound thought it contains. 

Improvement of the Mind. Isaac "Watts. 

No mental philosophy was ever written which is so comprehensive and practically 
useful to the unlearned as well as learned reader as this well-known book of Watts, 

Milton's Political Works. Cleveland. 

This is the very best edition of the great poet. It includes a life of the author, 
notes, dissertations on each poem, a faultless text, and is the only edition of Milton 
with a complete verbal index. 

56 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD F^ISCELLANY, 

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS — Cmtinued. 

Compendium of English Literature. Cleveland. 
English Literature of XlXth Century. Cleveland. 
Compendium of American Literature. Cleveland. 

Nearly one hundred and fifty thousand volumes of Professor Cleveland's ininiitahle 
compendiums have been sold. Taken together they present a complete view of litera- 
ture. To the man who can afford but a few books these will supply the jilact of an 
extensive library. From commendations of the very highest autliorities the following 
extracts will give some idea of the enthusiasm with which the works are regai'ded by 
scholars : — 

*' "With the Bible and your volumes one might leave libraries without very painful 
regret. " " The work cannot be found from which in the same limits so much interesting 
and valuable information may be obtained." "Good taste, fine scholarship, familiar 
acquaintance with literature, unwearied industry, tact acquired by practice, an interest 
in the culture of the young, and regard for truth, purity, philanthropy, and religion 
are united in Mr. Cleveland." "A judgment clear and impartial, a taste at once deli- 
cate and severe." "The biographies are just and discriminating." "An admirable 
bird's-eye view." "Acquaints the reader with the characteristic method, tone, and 
quality of each writer." " Succinct, carefully written, and wonderfully comprehensive 
in detail," &c., &c. 




u.«i.i,..r..,>,L,,Ci. -I l l 

Old New York Plate. 
[From Mrs. Martha J, Lamb's " History of the City of New York."] 

57 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY, 

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS - CoTifinuetL 

LIBRARY OF HISTORY. 
Ancient and Mediaeval Republics. Mann. 

A review of their institutions, and of the causes of their decline and fall. By 
Henry Mann. 8vo. 584 pages, cloth. 

Outlines of General History. Oilman. 

The number of facts which the author has compressed into these outline sketches is 
really surprising ; the chapters on the Middle Ages and feudalism afford striking ex- 
amples of his power of succinct but comprehensive statement. In his choice of 
representative pei'iods and events in the histories of nations be shows very sound judg- 
ment, and his characterization of conspicuous historical figures is accurate and 
impartial. 

Great Events of History. Collier. 

This celebrated work, edited for American readers by Prof. O. R. Willis, giv^es, in a 
series of pictures, a pleasantly readable and easily remembered view of the Christian 
era. Each chapter is headed by its central point of interest to afford association for the 
mind. Delineations of life and manners at different periods are interwoven. A geo- 
graphical appendix of great value is added. 

History of England. Lancaster. 

An arrangement of the essential facts of English history in the briefest manner 
consistent with clearness. With a fine map. 

A Critical History of the Civil W^ar. Mahan. 

By Asa Mahan, LL.D., author of "Intellectual Philosophy," "Elements of Logic," 
&c. * First president of Oberlin College, Ohio. With an introductory letter by Lieut- 
Gen. M. W. Smith of the British army. Svo. 450 pages. Cloth. 

The plan of this work is to present, not the causes and details of facts which led to 
the war, but the conduct and management of the war on the part of those concerned. 
It is a matter of present and future importance to Americans to know not only how the 
war was conducted, but also how it might have been more successfully carried on. 
The author has made the science of war a subject of careful and protracted study, and 
his views are pronounced and scientific. He takes strong ground, writes with vigor, 
and the interest of the reader is fully sustained from the beginning to the close of the 
book. His conclusions have already passed into history, and this work wiU be regarded 
as one of the most important contributions to the literature of the subject 

Europe under Napoleon First. Alison. 

A history of Europe from 1789 to 1815. By Archibald Alison. Abridged by Edward 
S. Gould. 1 vol. Svo, w^th appendix, questions, and maps. 550 pages. 



It seems to me an excellent abridg- 
ment. . . . Written in clear and chaste 
style, presenting the narrative in exact 
form for the general reader. . . . " — Judge 
Joseph Story. 



' ' One of the best abridgments I ever 
saw. The material facts are .all retained, 
and Mr. Gould has displayed great indus- 
try and skill in preserving the substance 
of so great a history." — Chancellor 
James Kent. 

History of Rome. Ricord. 

An entertaining narrative for the young. Illustrated. Embracing successively, The 
Kings, The Republic, The Empire. 

History of the Ancient Hebrews. Mills. 

The record of "God's people" from the call of Abraham to the destruction of Jeru- 
salem ; gathered from sources sacred and profane. 

The Mexican War. Mansfield. 

A history of its origin, and a detailed account of its victories ; with official despatches, 
the treaty of peace, and valuable tables. Illustrated. 

59 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY, 



MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS — Cojifutwcrf. 

£arly History of Michigan. Sheldon. 

A work of value and deep interest to the people of the West. CompUed mid^T the 
supervisioa of Hon. Lewis Cass. Portraits. 

History of Texas. Baker. 

A pithy and interesting resume. Copiously iUustratci The State constitution and 
extracts from the speeches and writings of eminent Texans are appended. 

Magazine of American History. 

8 volumes. Illustrated. A collection of valuable data relating to American 
History. 

Points of History. « 

For schools and colleges. By John Lord, LL.D., author of "Old Roman World," 
" Modern History," &c. 

Barnes's Popular History of the United States. 1 vol. 

This superbly illustrated work is by the author of "Barnes's Brief Histories " (for 
schools). The leading idea is to make American history popular for the masses, and 
especially with the young. The style is therefore life-like and vivid, carrying the 
reader along by the sweep of the story as in a novel, so that when he begins an account 
of an important event he cannot very well lay down the book until he finishes. It is 
complete from the earliest times to date. 

" Barnes's Popular History of the United States " was undertaken at the close of the 
first hundred years of American Independence. The author proposed to give to the 
whole people of the United States and the world a thoroughly impartial history of 
America, from the mound-builders to the present time. As such it was necessary to 
steer free from whatever in recent history would arouse sectional animosity or party 
bitterness. He determined to meet all questions of burning moment in the judicial 
rather than controv^ersial spirit, and while giving to every event its due importance, he 
would seek to avoid controversy by the gentle word "that turneth away wrath." The 
work is now finished down to President Arthur's administration. In it the truth of 
American history is impartially given in true historic form, without fear or favor. It is 
a work that all sections of the country can read and enjoy. Although the author is a 
Northern man and soldier, his work is popular and widely used as a text-book East, 
West, North, and South. An Alabama teacher lately wrote as follows : " We are using 
your history and like it, though it doesn't favor us rebels." And so it is liked throughout 
the country, because it does n't favor any side at the expense of truth and justice. 
Instead of being spread out in many volumes, more or less didactic, statistical, or dry, 
the book is complete in one royal 8vo volume of 850 pages, with 14 full-page steel 
engravings and 320 text illustrations on wood, engraved by eminent artists. It is fully 
up to the times and includes an account of President Garfield's brief administration 
and tragic death. 

Mrs. Martha J. Lamb's History of New York City. 
2 vols., cloth. 

This is a complete survey of the history of New York from early settlement to the 
present time. It opens with a brief outline of the condition of the Old World prior to 
the settlement of the New, and proceeds to give a careful analysis of the two great 
Dutch Commercial Corporations to which New York owes its origin. It sketches the 
rise and growth of the little colony on Manhattan Island ; describes the Indian wars 
with which it was afflicted ; gives color and life to its Dutch rulers ; paints its subju- 
gation by the English, its after vicissitudes, the Revolution of 1G89 ; in sliort, it leads 
the reader through one continuous chain of events down to the American Revolution. 
Then, gathering up the threads, the author gives an artistic and comprehensive account 
of the progi-ess of the city, in extent, education, culture, literature, art, and political 
and commercial importance during the last centuiy. Prominent persons are introduced 
in all the ditferent periods, with choice bits of family history, and glimpses of social 
life. The woa-k contains maps of the city in the difierent decades, and several rare 

60 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY, 

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS— Continued. 

portraits from original paintings, which have never before been engraved. The illus- 
trations, about 320 in rauniber, are all of an interesting and highly artistic character. 

"Widely welcomed both for its abun- "There is warratli and color and life in 

dant stores of inforniation and the attrac- every passage." — New Ycn± Sun. 
tions of the narrative."— Acw York "The work lias been done faithfully 

Tribune. and picturesquely. " — The Nation. 

Carrington's Battles of the Revolution. 

A careful description and analysis of every engagement of the War for Independence, 
with topographical charts prepared fronj personal surveys by the author, a veteran 
officer of the United States army, and Professor of Military Science in Wabash College. 

Baker's Texas Scrap-Book. 

Comprising the history, biography, literature, and miscellany of Texas and its people. 
A valuable collection of material, anecdotical and statistical, which is not to be found 
in any other form. The work is handsomely illustrated. 



DIOTIONARIES AND ENCYCLOP/EDIAS. 
Home Cyclopaedia of Literature and Fine Arts. 

Index to terms employed in belles-lettres, philosopliy, theology, law, mythology, 
painting, music, sculpture, architecture, and all kindred arts. By Geo. Ripley and 
Chas. A. Dana. 

The Rhyming Dictionary, Walker. 

A serviceable manual to composers, being a complete index of allowable rhymes. 

Dictionary of Synonymes ; or, The Topical Lexicon. 
W^illiams. 

. Terms of the English language classified hy subjects and arranged according to their 
affinities of meaning, with etymologies, delinitions, and illustrations. A very enter- 
taining and instructive work, 

Hawaiian Dictionary. 

Mathematical Dictionary. Davies and Peck. 

A thorough compendium of the science, with illustrations and definitions. 

K Wong's Dictionary. 

A dictionary of English phrases. With illustrative sentences. With collections of 
English ajid Chinese proverbs, translations of Latin and French phrases, historical 
sketch of the Chinese Empire, a chronological list of the Chinese dynasties, brief 
biographical sketches of Confucius and of Jesus, and complete index. By Kwong Kl 
Chin, late member of the Chinese Educational Mission in the United States, and for- 
merly principal teacher of English in the Government School at Shanghai, China. 900 
pages, 8vo, cloth. 



Frovti the Hartford Courant. 
" The volume shows great industry and 
apprehension of our language, and is one 
of the most curious and interesting of 
linguistic works." 



From the New York Nation. 
" It will amaze the sand-lot gentry to be 
informed tliat this remarkable work will 
supplement our English dictionaries even 
for native Americans." 



BARNES'S LIBRARY OF BIOGRAPHY. 

The Life of President Garfield, 

From Birth tn Presidency, by Major J. M. Bundy, editor New York "Evening Mail- 
Express," From Mentor to Elberon, by Col. A, P. Rockwell. Oration and Eulogy, by 
Hon. James G, Blaine. 
Thialifeof our martyred President, by Major Bundy, Mr. Blaine, and Colonel Rockwell, 

61 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY. 

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS — Co)Ui(i«ecZ. 

who was with the President before and after the assassination, is the most correct and 
authentic. Major Buudy visited Geuerai Carheid at Mentor, by invitation, and received 
all tlie facts relating to his life to the day of his noinination, from the General's lips. 
General Garfield showed his appreciation of it Viy recomiueading it to the Republican 
Committee as tlie book lie wished them to circulate. They showed their appreciation 
by circulating many thousands of copies among tlieir speaK.ers and fiiends. Tlie por- 
trait was made untlcr General and Mrs. Garfield's supervision, and gives altogether the 
Ijest idea of the man, his face, head, and figure. The hist(jry of las life was comijleted 
by Colonel Rockwell. 

The Autobiography of Rev. Chas. G. Finney, 

The revivalist preacher and first president of Oberlin College. With steel portrait. 
Edited by Pres. J. H. Fairchdd, of Ubei'lin. One vol., 12mo, ciotli. Dr. Finney 
was tlie greatest and most successful evangelist of modern times. His labors extended 
not only throughout a large territory in tlie United States, but in Great Britain and 
Ireland, and he produced a most powerful impression. 'This memoir describes the 
scenes he passed througli in the most vivid language, and covers the entire period of 
his life, from the time of his conversion to the close of his career. 

Memoirs of P. P. Bliss. 

With steel portrait (jf Mr. and Mrs. Bliss and two children. By Major D. W. Whittle. 
With a complete collection of Mr. Bliss's tunes and hymns, many of which are here 
published for the first time. Containing also contributions by Mr. Moody, Mr. Sankey, 
Dr. Goodwin, and others. 8vo, cloth, §2.00 ; cloth, gilt edges, §2.50. 

Every one kuows the hymns, work, and tragic death of Mr. Bliss. This book should 
be on the shelves in every Christian household 

The Life and Speeches of Henry Clay. 

New edition. Complete in one volume. Compiled and edited by Daniel Mallory. 
1,32.5 pages, 8vo, clotli, steel plates, portraits, and other illustrations. 

This is the liest life of Henry Clay. It contains a full sketch of his life and all his 
speeches, — his most important speeches in full and his less important ones in part. It 
also contains an epitome of the Compromise Measures, the Obituary Addresses and 
Eulogies by Senators Underwood, Cass, Hunter, Hall, Clemens, Cooper, Jones, of Iowa, 
and Brooke ; and Representatives Breckinridge, Ewing, Caskie, Chandler, of Pennsyl- 
vania, Bayley, Venable, Haven, Brooks, of New York, Faulkner, of Virginia, Parker, 
Gentry, Bowie, and Walsh. Also the funeral sermon, by the Rev. C. M Butler, Chap- 
lain of the Senate, and various important correspondence not elsewhere published. 

Henry Clay's Last Years. Colton. 
Garibaldi's Autobiography. 

From his birth to his retirement at Caprera ; including the most eventful period of 
his lii'e. Translated from manuscript by Theodore Dwight, author of "A Tour in 
Italy," and "The Roman Republic." Embellished with portrait engraved on steel. 
12mo. 400 pages. 

The Life and Services of Lieut.-Gen. Winfield Scott, 

Including his brilliant acliievements in the War of 1812 and in the Mexican War, and 
the part played by him at the opening of the Civil War of 1862. By Edward D. Mans- 
field, LL.D. 12mo, cloth, illustrated. 550 pages. 

Lives of the Signers. Dwight. 

The memory of the noble men who declared our country free, at the peril of their own 
" lives, fortunes, and sacred honor," should be embalmed in every American's heart. 

Life of Sir Joshua Reynolds. Cunningham. 

A candid, truthful, and ajjpreciative memoir of the great painter, with a compilation 
of his discourses. The volume is a text-book for artists, as well as those who would 
acquire the rudiments of art. With a portrait. 

62 ^ 



rHE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY. 

Mli-SCELLANEOUS PUBLICATluN>3— CoJuuittiic/. 

Prison Life. 

luteresting biogra].)liies of celebrated prisoners and martyrs, designed especially for 
the instruction and cultivation of youth. 

Men of Mark. 

Bryant, Longfellow, Poe, Charles Tennyson Turner, Macaulay, Freeman, Curtius, 
George Tickiior, ISumner, John Stuart Mill, By Edwin P. Whipple, Edward A. Freeman, 
and others. 275 pages, 8vo, paper covers. 

The Hero of Cowpens. 

This book presents a complete history of the lives of heroic Daniel Morgan and of 
Benedict Arnold. These Revolutionary characters are viewed in varied lights, and the 
author has produced a most captivating historical sketch, as interesting as a romance. 

Autobiography of Havilah Mowry, Jr. 

A City missionary. 



BARNES'S LIBRARY OF TRAVEL. 
Silliman's Gallop among American Scenery; 

Or, Sketches of American Scenes and Military Adventure. By Augustus E. Silliman. 
338 pages, Svo, illustrated. 

It is a most agreeable volume, and we commend it to the lovers of the " sparkling " 
style of literature. It carries the reader through and past many of the spots, North 
and South, made memorable by events of the Revolution and the War of 1812. 

Texas : the Coming Empire. McDaniel and Taylor. 

Narrative of a two-thousand-mile trip on horseback through the Lone Star State; 
with lively descriptions of people, scenery, and resources. 

Life in the Sandwich Islands. Cheever. 

The " heart of the Pacific, as it was and is," shows most vividly the contrast between 
the depth of degradation and barbarism and the light and liberty of civilization, so 
rapidly realized in these islands under the humanizing influence of the Christian 
religion. Illustrated. 

The Republic of Liberia. Stockwell. 

This volume treats of the geography, climate, soil, and productions of this interesting 
country on the coast of Africa, with a history of its early settlement. Our colored 
citizens especially, from whom the founders of the new State went forth, sliould read 
Mr. Stockwell's account of it. It is so arranged as to be available for a school reader, 
and iu colored schools is peculiarly appropriate as an instrument of education for the 
young. Liberia is likely to bear an important part in the future of tlieir race. 

Discoveries among the Ruins of Nineveh and 
Babylon. 

With 20 illustrations and a complete index. By Austen H. Layard, M. P. Abridged 
edition. 550 pages, 12mo, cloth. 

Mor-asteries of the East. 

Emh 'acing descriptions from personal observation of Egypt in 1833 ; the Hg'atron 
Lakes, 'he Convent of the Pulley, the Ruined Monastery at Thebes, the White Monas- 
tery, tj i Island of Philoe, &c., Jerusalem, the Monastery of St. Sabba, and the Mon- 
asterie of Metesra, Saint Athos. By Robert Curzon, Jr. 400 pages, 12mo, cloth. 

A F un through Europe. 

By Uon. Erastus C. Benedict, late Chancellor of the University of New York. A six 
"iior-.t is' tour through the galleries and capitals of Europe, by a most intelligent observer, 
»l 'A t year 1867. 12mo. cloth. 

63 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY. 

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS - Continued. 

Eighteen Months on a Greenland Whaler. 

By Joseph P. Faulkner, an "ex-assistant Avhale-catcher in an American schooner," and 
author of other recollections of the sea. 318 pages, iCnio, cloth. 

The Polar Regions ; 

Or, The First Search After Sir John Franklin's Expedition. By Lieut. Sherard Osbom, 
commanding H. M. S. Pioneer (the first steam vessel that ever penetrated the Northern 
sea). 212 pages, 12mo, cloth. 

St. Petersburg. Jermann. 

Americans are less familiar with the history and social customs of the Russian peo- 
ple than those of any other modern civilized nation. Opportiuiities such us this book 
affords are not, therefore, to be neglected. 

Thirteen Months in the Confederate Army. 

The author, a Northern man conscripted into the Confederate service, and rising from 
the ranks by soldierly conduct to positions of responsibility, had remarkable oppor- 
tunities for the acquisition of facts respecting the conduct of the Southern armies, and 
the policy and deeds of their leaders. He participated in many engagements, and his 
book is one of the most exciting narratives of adventure ever published. Mr. Steven- 
son takes no ground as a partisan, but views the whole subject as with the eye of a 
neutral, only interested in subserving the ends of history by the contribution of 
impartial facts. Illustrated. 

The Isthmus of Tehauntepec. Anderson. 

8vo, cloth. A history of the Isthmus from earliest times to the present, wVii an 
accourit of railroad enterprises and valuable maps and charts. 



BARNES'S RELIGIOUS LIBRARY. 
Ray Palmer's Poetical Works. 

An exquisite edition of the complete hymns and other poetical writings of the 
most eminent of American sacred poets, author of " My Faith Looks up to Thee." 

Formation of Religious Opinions. Palmer. 

Hints for the benefit of young people who have found themselves disturbed by inward 
questionings or doubts concerning the Christian faith. 

Nine Lectures on Preaching. Dale. 

By Rev. R. W. Dale, of England. Delivered at Yale College. Contents : Perils of Young 
Preachers ; The Intellect in Relation to Preaching ; Reading ; Preparation of Sermons ; 
Extemporaneous Preaching ; Evangelistic Preaching ; Pastoral Preaching ; Conduct 
of Public Worship. 

Dale on the Atonement. 

The theory and fact of Christ's atonement profoundly considered. 

The Service of Song. Stacy. 

A treatise on singing, in public and private devotion. Its history, office, and impor- 
tance considered. 

'* Remember Me." Palmer. 

Preparation for the Holy Communion. 

Bible Lands Illustrated. 

A pictorial hand-book of the antiquities and modern life of all the sacred countries. 
By Henry C. Fish, D.D. With six hundred engravings and majis, one thousand eluci- 
dated Scripture texts, and two thousand indexed subjects. 8vo, cloth, 900 pages. 

64 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY. 

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS — ConimitetZ. 

Lyman Abbott's Commentary on the Gospels. 

Handy edition, 3 vols., 8vo, 
cloth, illustrated. Household 
edition, on large paper, in 2 
vols. 

This is altogether, and all 
points considered, the best 
commentary for Christian 
workers. It is handy, prac- 
tical, finely illustrated and 
printed, clear, concise, plain, 
spiritual, and scholarly. It 
is cordially and earnestly 
indorsed by the most emi- 
nent divines and laymen of 
all denominations, and also 
by the whole religious press. 

" Ellicott and Alvord are 
too costly and too learned; 
Barnes, Jacobus, and Owen 
are too flat and thin ; Lange 
is a huge wilderness ; Abbott 
is simple, attractive, correct, 
and judicious in the use 
of learning." — Chancellor 
HowARu Crosby, LL. D. 

" "We are strongly con- 
vinced that this is one of tlie 
ablest commentaries which 
this century of commenta- 
ries has jiroduced. " — Rev. 
J, H. Vincent, D.D. 

Eastern City Wall [Fiom Abbott s Conuneutary ] 

Lady Willoughby. 

The diary of a wile and mother. An historical romance of the seventeenth century. 
At once beautiful and pathetic, entertaining and instructive. 

Favorite Hymns Restored. Gage. 

Most of the standard hymns have undergone modification or abridgment by compilers, 
but this volume contains them exactly as written by the authors. 

Poets' Gift of Consolation. 

A beautiful selection of poems referring to the death of children. 

The Mosaic Account of Creation. 

The Miracle of To-Day ; or, New Witnesses of the Oneness of Genesis and Science. 
With essays on the cause and epoch of the present inclination of the earth's axis, and 
on Cosmology. By Charles B. Warring. 




65 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY. 

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS —Cotiii?tM€ri. 

Froude's Theological Unrest. (Atlas Series.) 
The History of the English Bible, 

Extending from the earliest Saxon translations to the present Anglo- American Revision. 
With special reference to tlie Protestant religion and the EngliJih laaguage. By Black- 
ford Coadit. With steel porti-ait of Wyclillie. 400 pages. liJmo, cloth. 

This is a consecutive history of all the English versions of the Scriptures and their 
translators, including also the history of Protestantism in England and the growth and 
changes of the Englisk language. 



BARNES'S YOUTH'S LIBRARY. 
Earnest Words on True Success in Life. 

Addressed to young men and women. By Eay Palmer. 296 pages, I2mo, Cloti- 
lda Norman. 

Two vols, in one. AnoveL With illustrations. By Mrs. Lincoln Phelps. 432 pages, 
12mo, cloth. 

The Educator ; or. Hours with my Pupils. 

A series of practical hints to young ladies on questions of behavior and education. 
By Mrs. Lincoln Phelps. 364 pages, 12mo, cloth. 

The Student ; or, the Fireside Friend. 

A series of lectures to young ladies, in which the author gives a coarse of practical 
instruction for home stud}'^, including physical, intellectual, social, domestic, and relig- 
ious training. Intended to awaken in the minds of the young an idea of the Im^wr- 
tance and value of education, and to provide the means of self-instruction. With an 
index. 380 pages, 12nio, cloth. 

Monasteries of the East. 

Embracing visits to monasteries in the Levant. By the Hon. Robert Curzon, Jr. 
416 pages, 12mo, cloth. 

Life in the Sandwich Islands. 

By Rev, Henry T. Cheever. 356 pages, 12mo, cloth- 

Lives of the Signers. 

Carefully prepared sketches of the lives and careers of the signers of the document 
declaring the independence of the States of America- By N. Dwight. 374 pages, 12mo, 
cloth. 

Discoveries among the Ruins of Nineveh and 

Babylon. 

With travels in Armenia, Kurdistan, and the Desert. Being the result of the sectind 
expedition undertaken for the trustees of the British Museum, An abridgment. By 
Austen H. Layard, M.P. 550 pages, 12mo, cloth. 

The History of the Jew^s. 

From the flood to their dispersement- From sources sacred and profane. A most 
excellent work in connection with the study of the Scriptures. Giving a connected 
account of the histniy and acts of this chosen people- By Abraham Mills, with colored 
charts, maps, and illustrations. 444 pages, 12uio. 

Johnny Morrow, the New^sboy. 

An autobiography written by the hero wlien sixteen years of age. 16mo, cloth. A 
plain story of one who represents a class. The writer, although a newsboy and pedler 
of trinkets, is well renienibered in New Haven, Conn., and possesses a power and 
maturity of expression quite remarkable. 

66 



THE NATIONAL SERtES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY. 

MISCELLAN EOTJS PUBLICATIONS — CQiiiinutd. 

Stories of Prison Lrife. 

Cloth, I61DO. Biographies of noted i)olitical prisoneis, aa Picciola, the heroine of 
Siberia ; Silvio Pellico, and Baron Trenck. 

The Son of a Genius. 

A tale. By Mrs. Hofland. Cloth, IGmo. 

St. Chrysostom ; or, the Mouth of Gold. 

By Rev. Edwin Johnson. Cloth, 16mo. An original dramatic poem, in six cantos. 
With explanatory notes. 



VALUABLE SPECIAL BOOKS. 
Opium Habit and Drunkenness. 

The extent, terrible effects, and radical cure. Read Dr. Hubbard's " Opiumania and 
Dipsomania." 

"To many victims aud their friends, this book will come like a prophet of God." 

— Christian Union. 

Grecian and Roman Mythology. Dwight. 

The presentation iv 1, systematic form of the fables of antiquity affords most enter- 
taining reading, and :^ valuable to all as an index to the mythological allusions so 
frequent ia literature, as well as to students of tlie classics who would peruse intelli- 
gently the classical authors. Illustrated. 

General View of the Fine Arts. Huntington. 

The preparation of this work was suggested by the interested inquiries of a group of 
young people concerning the productions and styles of the great mastei-s of art, whose 
names only were familiar. This statement is sufficient index of its character. 

The Poets of Connecticut. Everest. 

With the biographical sketches, this volume forms a complete history of the poetical 
literature of the State. 



BARNES'S CHOICE STANDARD ENGLISH LIBRARY. 

Fifty-Nine Essays. 

By Lord Bacon. With notes, critical and biographical, by Hallam, Maeaulay, and 
others. Edited by Jam&s R Boyd. 426 pages, 12mo, cloth. 

Paradise Lost. 

By John Milton. With five full-page engravings, explanatory and critical notes, 
index, &c., &c. Edited by James R. Boyd. 560 pages, 12mo, cloth. 

The Task, Table Talk, and other Poems. 

By William Cowper, With notes, critical and explanatory, complete index, and live 
full-page engravings. Edited by James R. Boyd. 436 pages, 12mo, cloth. 

Night Thoughts. 

By Edward Young. With sketch of life and works of the author, and explanatory 
notes. By James R. Boyd. With steel-plate illustrations. 516 pages, 12mo, cloth. 

The Course of Time. 

By Robert Pollok. With two steel-plate engravings : portrait at age of 28, and early 
home ; critical observations of various authors, with notes by Dr. Boyd. 

67 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY. 

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS — Continued. 

The Seasons. 

By James Thomson. With four steel-plate illustrations, opinions of distinguished 
ii-.tjcs on the genius and cliaracter of the work, explanatory notes by the editor, and a 
complete index. Edited by James R. Boyd. 336 pages, 12mo, cloth. 

The Poetical Works of John Milton. 

With a life of the author, preliminary dissertation on each poem, notes, critical and 
exiilanatoi-y, an index to the subjects of Paradise Lost, and an extra index to all the 
poems. Complete in one volume. By Charles Dexter Cleveland. G'.»U i>ages, 12mo, 
iialf roan. 

Elements of Criticism. 

By Henry Home, of Karnes, one of the Lords Commissioners of Judiciary in Scot- 
land. Edited, with explanatory notes, by James R. Boyd. 486 pages, 12mo, cloth. 

The Plays of Philip Massinger. 

Witli an introduction and notes, critical and explanatory. By William Gifford. Com- 
plete in one volume. 540 pages, large 8vo, cloth. 

The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. 

By James Boswell. With copious notes and biographical illustrations. By Ed. 
Malone. Complete in one volume. 600 pages, Svo, cloth. 

An Essay on Man. 

By Alexander Pope. With notes. Edited by a teacher. 44 pages, 12mo. 

The Iliad of Homer. 

Translated in verse. By Alexander Pope. 568 pages, 32mo, roan. 

Improvement of the Mind. 

By Isaac Watts, D.D. With. Denman's Questions. 804 pages, 12mo, half bound. 



BARNES'S LIBRARY OF POLITICS. 
The Young Citizen's Catechism. 

192 pages, 16mo, cloth. A most comprehensive little work for beginners ; explaining 
the duties of district, town, city, county. State, and United States officers, and giving 
practical rules for Parliamentary practice, legal and commercial business.' By Elisha 
P. Howe. 

First Lfessons in Civil Government. 

280 pages, 12mo, cloth. Based upon the laws of New York State but adapted to the 
requirements of the student in any State. Revised in 1877. By Andrew W. "^oung. 

Civil Government in the United States. 

330 pages, 12mo, cloth. Containing a full statement of general principles on a comi)re- 
hensive plan, embracing State, county, city, town, and federal organizations. This work 
tractes the development of free institutions from germs in the early English constitu- 
tion, through colonial and revolutionary history, down to date. It is arranged topi- 
cally to assist in fixing details in the student's mind. It omits unnecessary statistics 
and fulfils the liighest requirements of a citizen's manual. By George H. Martin, 
Teacher of History and Civil Politics in the Mass. State Nomml College. 

The Political Manual. 

350 pages, 12m(), cloth. A complete record of the theorvand practice of the general 
and State goveniiuents of the United States. By Edwin'D. Mansfield, LL.D., Profes- 
fcor of Constitutional Law. 

68 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY. 

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS — Co7i(iwiied. 

Lessons on Political Economy. 

220 pages, 12iiio, cloih. Treating the science familiarly so as to biing it to the prac- 
tical knowledge of all classes of society. If the principles herein pi-esented are thor- 
oughly mastered, the student will have a competent knowledge of the science for all 
ordinary purposes. By J. T. Champlin, LL.D., President of Colby University. 

A Manual of International Law. 

322 pages, 12mo, cloth. This work presents within moderate compass the principles of 
international law as recognized in the world at the present time. It is the first notable 
attempt to popularize this important branch of polidcal knowledge, and gives an in- 
teresting view of the influence of tlie United States on the dijilomacy of the world. By 
Edward M. Gallaudet, Ph.D., LL.D. Professor of Moral and Political' Science, and Presi- 
dent of the College of Deaf Mutes, Washington, D. C. 

De Tocqueville's Democracy in America. 

American Institutions and their Influence. (Abridged.) 

By Alexis de Tocqueville. 4G0 pages, 12mo, cloth. Being part second of the 
"Democracy in America," by the same writer. Arranged, with notes, introduction, 
and appendix, by Hon. John C. Spencer. 

The Republic of the United States of America, and 
its Political Institutions Reviewed and Ex- 
amined. (Complete.) 

By Alexis de Tocqueville, Member of the Institute of France and of the Chamber 
of Deputies. 876 pages, 8vo, cloth. Translated by Henry Reeves, Esq., with preface 
and notes by Hon. John C. Spencer. Two volumes in one. 

Principles and Acts of the Revolution in America. 

By Hezekiah Niles, editor of the "Weekly Register." 522 pages, 12mo, cloth. A grand 
storehouse of the patriotic and soul-stirring speeches and orations delivered during the 
Revolution, and embodying the opinions and immortalizing the conduct of the leaders 
and actors in the events of that period. The collection embraces nearly if not all the 
important impassioned addresses that contributed to fire the public sentiment and 
sustain the enthusiasm which ended in victory. While the chief object of the volume 
is to stir the feelings of the period, it is also an historical volume. In a word, this vol- 
ume contains all the great speeches and orations, extracts from the proceedings of the 
greatest meetings and from important writings of all the States at the time of the 
Revolution. 

Constitutions of the American States and of the 
United States in 1861 ; 

Or, Prior to the War of the Rebellion. With an essay on the character of the 
changes in these constitutions prior to the year 1879. By Wilmot L. Warren. 602 
pages, 8vo, cloth. 

Political Essays. 

Paper ; cloth. Labor, Granger, Indian, Chinese, and constitutional questions. (Atlas 
series, No. 3.) By Thomas Hughes, Thomas Brassey, Judge Cooley, E. A. Freeman, 
LL.D., Francis A. Walker, and others. 

The Commonwealth Reconstructed. 

By Charles C. P. Clark, M.D. 216 pages, 8vo, cloth. A sketch of the condition of 
political affairs, town. State, and federal, in 1878. With a new plan for the complete 
reconstruotion of the body politic. 

69 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY. 

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS - Continued. 

THE ATLAS SERIES OF ESSAYS. 

PAPER BINDING. 

No. I. The Currency Question. 

The nature of the discussion prior to resumption ; with a view of the future and 
permanent financial wants of the United States. By Hon. Amasa Walker, LL.D. 
Contents : Our National Currency ; The Money Problem. 

No. 2. Men of Mark, 

Biogi-aphical and Critical Essays. Contents : Lord Macaulay, by Eldward A. Free- 
man, D.C.L. ; George Ticlcnor, by Edwin P. Whipple ; Ernst Curtius, by R. P. Ke«p. 
Ph.D. ; Philip Gilbert Hamerton ; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, by Ray Palmer ; To 
John Lothrop Motley, a poem, by William Cullen Bryant ; Edgar Allan Poe, by John 
H. Ingram ; Charles Tennyson Turner, by A. J. Symington, M.A. ; Edward A. Free- 
man, by Henry Coppee, LL.D. ; Charles Sumner, by President Magoun, of Iowa ; John 
Stuart MiU, Nos. 1 and 2, by President Porter, of Yale College. 

No. 3. The Labor Question. 

Political Essays. Contents : Co-operative Stores in England, by Thomas Hughes, 
M.P. ; Wages in England, by Thomas Brassey, M.P. ; The Sea-SheU and the Sonneteer, 
a poem, by Charles Tennyson Turner ; Grangerism, by Dr. Francis Wharton ; The 
Grange and the Potter Law, by a Granger; The American Republic, by Gen. Franz 
Sigel ; Indian Citizenship, by Gen. Francis A. Walker ; The Chinese Question, by Dr. 
E. D. Mansfield ; The Guarantee of Oixler and Republican Government in the States, 
by Judge T. M. Cooley ; Some Checks and Balances in Government, by Judge T. M. 
Cooley ; The Difficulties of Republicanism in Europe, by Edward A. Freeman, D.C.L. 

No. 4. The Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876. 

A critical account. By Gen. Francis A. Walker, Chief of the Bureau of Awards. 

No. 5. European International Exhibitions. Paris, 

1878, and Vienna, 1873. 

Contents : The Paris Exhibition, by Charles Gindriez, a Paris architect ; Vienna and 
the Centennial, by Prof, James Morgan Hart. 

No. 6. A Shocking Story. 

By Wilkie Collins. 

No. 7. Buried Treasures. 

Where the Precious Metals Go, by Hon. J. V. C. Smith, cx-mayor of Boston. 

No. 8. The Gold Room. 

By Kinahan Cornwallis. Contents : The New York Gold-Room ; The New York 
Stock Exchange ; The New York Clearing-House. 

No. 9. Higher Education. No. 1. 

Contents : International Communication by Language, by Philip Gilbert Hamerton ; 
Reform in Higher Education ; Upper Schools, by Pres. James McCook ; Study of 
Greek and Latin Classics, by Prof. Charles Elliott ; The University System in Italy, by 
Prof. Angelo de Gubernatis, of the University of Florence ; Universal Education, by 
Ray Palmer ; Industrial Art Education, by Eaton S. Drone. 

No. 10. England and the Government. 

By the Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, Premier. Contents : A Caustic Eieview of Beaeons- 
field's Policy ; A Model Political Document. 

No. II. Theological Unrest. 

Contents : Science and Theology, Ancient and Modem, by James Anthony Froude ; 
The Conflict of Science and Religion, by Rev. E. A. Washburn, D.D. ; Does Humanity 
Require a New Revelation — a Reply to Mr. Froude, by Prof. P. G. Tait, University of 
Edinburgh, 

70 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD MISCELLANY. 

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS - Continued. 

No. 12. Higher Education. No. 2. (In press.) 

Contents : Learned Women at the Bologna University, by Madame Villari, of Florence, 
Italy ; Russian Universities, by C. K. Adams ; Study and Practice of Medicine by 
Women, by James R. Chadwiek ; Technical Education and Free Trade, by Lyon Playfair. 
The Smithsonian Institute, by Heniy W. Elliott ; The Service of Francis Lieber, by 
Dr. J. C. Bluntschli ; The Concord School of Philosophy, by Dr. Julius H. Ward; 
The University of Texas, by Prof. Oscar H. Cooper. 

No. 14, Practical Work of Painting and Etching. 

With portrait of Rubens. By Philip Gilbert Hamerton. 

No. 21. Modern Schools of Art. 

By Philip Gilbert Hamerton. 



CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 

MUSIC. 

Worship in Song. 

A selection of hymns and tunes for the service of the sanctuary. By Jos. P. Hol- 
brook, Mus. Doc. , musical editor of '• Songs of the Church," " Songs for the Sanctuary," 
" Baptist Praise Book," " Methodist Hymnal," author of *' Quartet and Chorus Choir," 
&c., &c. In this work Dr. Holbrook has put the mature results of long, patient, and 
careful study. His excellent judgment and taste and the great attractiveness of his 
compositions, and especially his admirable adaptations, have already been noted and 
appreciated by all who are familiar with the former works edited by him. In addition 
to his own more familiar compositions, as well as new tunes which now appear for the 
first time, the author has drawn upon the store of English and German tunes, such as 
have already become dear to American congregations. Where entirely new tunes 
appear, or such as are not generally known, the chorister will always find an old " stand- 
by" upon the same or opposite page. The book is thus adapted to both the precentor 
and choir. In the selection and arrangement of hymns, he has been efficiently assisted 
by Rev. Dr. J. Glentworth Butler, who has been a life-long student of English hym- 
nology. The work contains 450 pages, in full cloth and bui-nished edges. 

The Evangelical Hymnal. 

By the Rev. Charles Cuthbert Hall, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, 
N. y., and Sigismond Lasar, editor of "The Hymnary." This book contains approved 
versions of 600 excellent hymns, with tunes by the most celebrated composers of ancient 
and modem times. The adaptations of tunes to hymns have been made with special 
reference to a higher standard of ecclesiastical music than may be found in any other 
American hymnal. The biographical index contains brief but comprehensive notices 
of authors, translators, and composers ; and much valuable biographical information 
is printed at the heading of each hymn, and in frequent footnotes. 

Baptist Praise Book. 

By Rev. Drs. Fuller, Levy, Phelps, Fish, Armitage, Winkler, Evarts, Lorimer, and 
Manly, and J. P. Holbrook, Esq. 1,311 hymns, with tunes. Edition without tunes. 
Cliapel edition, 550 hymns, with tunes. 

Plymouth Collection. 

(Congregational.) By Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. 1,374 hymns, with tunes. Separate 
edition for Baptist churches. Editions without tunes. 

Hymns of the Church. 

(Undenominational.) By Rev. Drs. Thompson, Vermilye, and Eddy. 1,007 hymns, 
with tunes. The use of this book is required in all congregations of the Reformed 
Church in America. Edition without tunes. Chapel edition ( " Hymns of Prayer and 
Praise " ), 320 hymns, with tunes. 

71 



THE NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD CHURCh-BOOKS. 



CHRISTIAN WORSHIP — Continiud. 

Episcopal Common Praise. 

The service set to ai)propriate music, with tunes for all the hymns in the book of 
Common Prayer. 

Hymnal, with Tunes. 

(Episcopal ) By Hall & Whiteley. The New Hymnal, set to music. Edition, with 
chants. Edition of hymns only ( " Companion " Hymnal). 

Quartet and Chorus Choir. 

By J. P. Holbrook, Mus. Doc. An admirable collection of approved hymns and 
tunes suitable for choirs. 

Pilgrim Melodies. 

By J. E. Sweetser. Hymns and tunes. 

Christian Melodies. 

By Geo. B. Cheever. Hymns and tunes. 

Mount Zion Collection. 

By T. E. Perkins. For the choir. 

Selah. 

By Thos. Hastings. For the choir. 

LITUEGICAL. 

Public Worship. 

Containing complete services (not Episcopal) for five Sabbaths ; for use in schools, 
public institutions, summer resorts, churches without a settled pastor; in short, 
wherever Christians desire to worship, no clergyman being present. 

The Union Prayer-Book. 

A manual for public and private worship. With those features which are objection- 
able to other denominations of Christians than Episcopal eliminated or modified. 
Contains a service for Sunday-schools and family prayers. 

The New Psalter. 

Selections from the Psalms, Isaiah, and New Testament, for responsive reading. 
Founded on the Revised Version. Prepared by the Rev. R. S. Storrs, D.D. 

Precept and Praise. 

A manual of worship and study for Sunday-schools. 

A General Liturgy and Book of Common Prayer. 

By Prof. Hopkins of Auburn Theological Seminary. 

This is a complete liturgy and prayer book for non-episcopal churches. 

Stacy's Service of Song. 

A treatise (m singing in private devotion, in the family, in the school, and in the 
worshipping congregation. By Rev. A. G. Stacy. With introduction and indorsement 
of Rev. Thomas O. Summers, D.D. In this book 1he author reviews the history of 
music in churches and gives an interesting account of the quality, character, and 
forms thereof at the present time. 

72 



7//£ NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD CHURCH-BOOKS. 

CHRISTIAN WORSHIP — Co7iiin'U£d. 

PREPARATORY FOR COMMUNION. 
Ray Palmer's " Remember Me ; " 

Or, The Holy Communion. 102 pages, 12ino, cloth, red line, red burnished edges, 
illuminated. Tiiis chaste and beautiful book is prepared by the Rev. Dr. Ray Palmer, 
author of many of our finest church hymns, such as "My Faith Looks up to Thee." 
In it he speaks with the force of his own lovely character, directly to the heart of his 
readers, and seeks to bring the great facts set forth in the oixliiiance of the Holy Sup- 
per into imn.>ediate contact with the religious sensibilities. In the book, poetry and 
prose are intermingled, many of the poetical pieces having been written for this bodk. 
Contents: I avocation; Texts; Design of Ordinance; Questions for Self-ex;:iii- 
ination ; Hymn ; Meditations ; Monday, " Anticipation," with sonnet and stanzas ; 
Tuesday, ■" Passover," with sonnet and stanzas ; Wednesday, " Unmasking," with sonnet 
and stanzas ; Thursday, *'Holy Supper," with sonnet and saci'aniental hymn ; Friday, 
"Parting Words," &c. ; Saturday, " Gethsemane ;" Sabbath morn, "Calvary;" Sab- 
bath eve, " After the Sacrament " 



SABBATH-SCHOOL. 

Sabbath-School Hymnal. 

By Rev. Edwin P. Parker, D.D. A novel feature is here presented for the first time, 
namely, the beautiful melodies of Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Abt, and 
others, heretofore known only as compositions for the piano-forte or orchestra, ai'e 
now appropriately adapted to hymns of deep religious thought and pure devotion. No 
sensational hymns nor trashy melodies. The author, being a man of rare musical 
attainments, has enjoyed an unusual opportunity of testing the value of his ideas in 
connection with his ministerial duties, and, as a result, this hymnal has been prepared. 
In the schools now using it the singing has invariably improved, and the children have 
been educated to a purer and loftier appreciation of the divine art. 165 pages in board 
covers. 

" A sign of reaction from the hitherto " Among recent collections it deserves 

prevalent trash." — .New York Indepen,- the first examinatioa." — Sunday-School 
dent Tinves. 

Coronation Hymns and Songs. 

By Rev. C. P. Deems, D.D., and T. E Perkins. Boards. 

Sabbath Carols, 

By T. E. Perkins. Boards. 

Songs of Delight. 

By Z. M. Parvin. Boards and cloth. Boards. 



TEMPERANCE. 
Francis Murphy's Gospel Temperance Hymnal. 

Edited by Rev. J. E. Rankin, D.D., and E. S. Lorenz. Boards. 

This Hymnal is especially arranged, by Mr. Murphy's request, from old and original 
matter, much of which is especially fitted for distinctive gospel temperance work, and 
no less fitted for Sunday-schools and homes. 

*' Incomparably the best temperance song book published. " — Chvaxgo Advance. 

73 



BULLETIN OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



Anatomy. 

Wilder & Gage's Anatomical Technology. 

Astronomy. 

Peck's Popular Astronomy. 

French. 

Worman's Second French. Book. 
"Worman's Grammaire Francaise. 

Grammar. 

Hinds's Some Topics in English Grammar. 
Johnson's Beginner's English Grammar. 

History. 

Barnes's Brief History of Greece, (r) 

Barnes's Brief History of Mediaeval and Modern Peoples. (0 

Barnes's Brief General History of the "World. ( ) 

Kummer's Epitome of English History. {'-) 

Lancaster's History of England. New edition. 

Mathematics. 

Van Amringe's Davies' Surveying and Levelling. 

Moral and Mental Philosophy. 

Champlin's Intellectual Philosophy. 
Champlin's Moral Philosophy. 
Smith's Moral Philosophy. 

Phonography. 

Eames's Light-Line Short-Hand. 

Readers. 

Barnes's New National Readers. In Five Numbers, (i) 

Roads and Railroads. 

Gillespie's Boads and Railroads. 

(«) 



BULLETIN OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



NEW NATIONAL READERS. 








y 



Timo-w Me a Stick. 
[Specimen Illustration from Barnes's New National Readers.] 

This new series of Scliool Readers is prepared after a most careful and exhaustive exami- 
nation into the actual wants of the Public Schools of America, and the gatherin;^ together of 
the bestideas of some of the most eminent educators of the country. 

In point of mechanical execution, printing, binding, &c., the series stands unexcelled. 
The illustrations are the most beautiful that were ever put into a school text-book. They 
are the productions of the best artists in the country, and include examples from Church, 
Beard, Sol. Eytinge, Geo. White, J. G. Brown, Frenzeny, Gary, Lippincott, and otliers. 

The prominent ideas sought to be maintained in tins Series are : Perfection of the word- 
method system; Easy gradation of lessons; Frequent reviews ; Sj^stematic drill in spell- 
ing ; Judicious use of script exercises ; the adoption of the conversational style ; Brevity ; 
Elucidation of subjects by outline drawings, to incite a taste for drawing on the part of the 
child; Beauty and fulness of illustration; Instructiveness of exercises and elevating 
interest of the stories ; Adaptation to the wants of both graded and ungraded schools ; 
Introduction of memory-selections from standard authors, &c. The Drawing Exercises 
and Language Lessons are a particixlarly valuable feature of the early numbers. 

Barnes's New Reader. No. 1. 12mo. 9G pages. 



Barnes's 


New- 


Reader. 


No. 


2. 


12mo. 


]7C pnges. 


Barnes's 


New 


Reader. 


No. 


3. 


12mo. 


In press. 


Barnes's 


New- 


Reader. 


No. 


4. 


12mo. 


In pi^ess. 


Barnes's 


New 


Reader. 


No. 


5. 


12mo. 


In press. 



Q^) 



BULLETm OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



HISTORY. 

Barnes's Brief History of Greece. 

204 pages. 13nio. Clotli. Illustrated. 

Tliis hook was primarily prepared for the Cliatauqua Conrse in History^ btit is well 
adapted to the M'ants of all srndents. It consists of the chapters on the Political History 
and Civilization of Greece, in Barnes's " Brief History of Ancient Peoples," and a nunil)er 
of appropriate selections from the works of such historians as Curtius, Grote, Thirlwall, 
Smith, Fyffe, Cox, Schmitz, Rawlinson, and others. By the study of this little hook the 
reader will gain a A'ery substantial idea of the history of Greece, in whose career the rest of 
the world is so largely concerned. 




[Specimen Illustration from Barnes's Brief-History Series.} 

Barnes's Brief General History of the World. 

C1:S pages. 240 illustrations and maps. 12nio. Half-leather. 

This volume contains the whole of " Ancient Mediaeval and Modem Peoples," and has for 
its practical recommendation the advantage afforded the scholar of finishing tlie whole sub- 
ject without losing tiie continuity of text or purchasing a separate volume. The history of 
all nations is here produced briefly and effectively, in such a manner that all scholars will 
be interested and benefited. 

Kummer's Epitome of English History. 

With Questions for Examination. Bv S. Agnes Kummer, revised by A. M. Chandler of 
the Edge worth School, Baltimore, Md. 'loO pages. 12mo. Cloth. 

The success of thy first edition of this book in several schools leads to its reproduction 
with additions. It U not designed to supersede the study of more comprehensive text-books 
of history, but merely to act as a handmaiden to them, by presenting in a condensed foi-m 
the principal facts and dates. 



BULLETIN OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



Barnes's Brief History of Mediaeval and Modern 
Peoples. 



12ino. Cloth. 
Tliis work distinguishes between the 
period of the world's history from the Fall 
of Rome (a,d. 476) to the Capture of 
Constantinople (a.d. 1453) — about one 
thousand years, called "Middle Ages," — 
and the period from the end of the fif- 
teenth century to the present time. It 
covers the entire time chronologically and 
by the order of events, giving one hundred 
and twenty-two fine illustrations and six- 
teen elaborate maps. The subject has 



(o^^M^sg^ 




Days in Venice. 
[Specimen. Illustration fram Barnes's Brief-History 

Series.] 

never befoieheen so interestingly treated in brief com- 
pass. The Political History of each nation is first given ; 
then the Manneis and Customs of the People, A better 
idea of the giowth of civilization and the changes in the 
condition of mnnkind cannot be found elsewhere. The 
book IS fitted foi pi n ate reading, as well as schools, 
and should be found m every family collection, whether 
as pait of the school couise or not. 



id) 



BULLETIN OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



PHONOGRAPHY- 

Eames's Light-Line Short-Hand. 

By Roscoe L. Eanies. 248 pages. 12iiio. Clolh. 

This book presents a practical phonetic system without shading. It is prepared to meet 
the requirements of business, corresponding, and verbatim reporting. It is especially 
adapted to the use of schools and colleges. It gives a vocabulary of more than 4,500 words 
and phrases. The illustrations are very numerous, and both in variety and quantity are 
unprecedented. There are 58 pages of engraved short-hand matter for practice-copies. 
The book is highly endorsed and the system is the best and shortest known. 




[Specimen lUa&tiatiou iiom Barnes's i\ew JNdtioudl Beadeis.] 

MODERN LANGUAGE SERIES, 

Worman's Second French Book. 

96 pages. 12mo. Half bound. 

Worman's Elementary French Grammar. 

184 pages. 12mo. Cloth. 

For rest of Series see " French," page 45. 



BULLETIN OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



THE NEW SURVEYING. 

Van Amringe's Davies's New Surveying. 

By' Charles Davies, LL.D., author of a Full Course of Mathematics. Revised by J. 
Howard Van Amringe, A.M., Ph.D., Professor of Mathematics in Columbia College. 566 
pages. 8vo. Full sheep. 

i)avies's Surveying originally appeared as a text-book for the use of the United States 
Military Academy at West Point. It proved acceptable to a much wider field, and underwent 
changes and impi-ovements, until the author's final revision, and has remained the standard 
work on the subject for many years. 

In the present edition, 1883, while the admirable features which have hitherto commended 
the M'ork so highly to institutions of learning and to practical surveyors, have been retained, 
some of the topics have been abridged in treatment, and some enlarged. Others have been 
added, and the whole has been arranged in the order of progressive development. A change 
winch must prove particularly acceptable is the transformation of the article on mining- 
surveying into a complete treatise, in which the location of claims on the surface, the latest 
and best methods of underground traversing, &c., the calculation of ore-reserves, and all 
that pertains to the work of the mining-surveyor, are fully explained and illustrated by 
practical examples. Immediately on the publication of this edition it was loudly welcomed 
in all quarters. A letter lecei^ed as \\e wiitt, from Piof E C Caipentei, of the Michigan 
Sfate Agricultural College, savs . ** I am de- 
lighted with it. I do not know of a moie com- 
plete work on the subject, and I am pleased 
state that it is filled with examples of the best 
methods of modern practice. We shall mtio- 
duce it as a text-book in the college couise." 
This is a fair specimen of the geneial leception. 




<^ ^ 






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^ 









My Pets in the Countey. 
[Specimen Illustration from Barnes's New National Readers.] 

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BULLETIN OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



ASTRONOMY. 



Peck's Popular Astronomy. 

By Will. G. Peck, Pli.D., LL. D., Protessor of Matlicniatica, Mechanics, and Astronomy 
in Columbia Collei;e. 12mu. Cluth. 3o() pa^'cs. 

Professor Peck has here produced a sciculitic work in hrief form ibr colleges, academics, 
and high schools. Tcaciiers who do not want an elementary work, like Steele's Astronomy 
for instance, will find what they want in this book. Its discussion of the Stars, Solar 
System, Earth, Moon, Sun and Planets, Eclipses, Tides, Calendars, Planets and Satellites, 
Comets and Meteors, &c., is full and satisfactory. The illustrations are numerous and 
very carefully engraved, so the student can gain an accurate comprehension of the things 
represented. Professor Peck is wonderfully clear and concise in his style of writing, and. 
there is nothing redundant or obscure in this work. It is intended for popular as well as 
class use, and accordingly avoids too great attention to mathematical processes, which are 
introduced in smaller type than the regular text. For higher schools this astronomy is 
undoubtedly the best text-book yet published. 




[•^Dccimen lUustiation fiom Baines's Aew ^atloual Readers.] (</) 



BULLETIN OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



GRAMMAR. 

Some Topics in English Grammar. 

By Arthur Hinds. 142 pa^es. 16mo. Cloth. 

Teachers are almost unanimous in condemning grammars as untruthful, or inconsistent, 
or complicated, or as combining these faults. The distinctive features of this •vvork, which 
is the J. G. Scott, or Westiield !Normal School system, are: the natural method of present- 
ing the subjects ; the cutting loose from what is mere tradition ; the conciseness with 
which the matter is treated. The book should he read by every pupil and teacher of 
grammar. 

Johnson's Elements of English Grammar. Part 1. 

106 pages. 12mo. Half-bound. 

To learn the rudiments of English Grammar there is no little hook more clear and simple 
than this heginner's book, by Mr. H. F. Johnson, of Brookhaven, Miss. It is based upon 
the plan of questions and answers, and is adapted to the comprehension of the youngest 
learners of language. 

WORSPHIR 

Dr. Storrs' New Edition of the 
Psalter. 

Prof. Hopkin's Lit- 
urgy; 




Have a Cup of Tea? 
[Specimen Illustration from Barnes's New National Readers.] 



BULLETIN OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

The Elements of Moral Philosophy. 

UO pages. VZiw. Cloth. By Wm. Austin Smith, A.xVL, Ph.D., Professor of Moral 
Philosophy in the Columbia, Tenn., Athenteuni. 
"Ilia is an excellent book for the use of academies and schools. It is prepared to meet the 




Lbpecimen Illustration from Barnes's 
New National Readers.] 

wants of a much larger pnblic than 
has heretofore been reached by works 
of this class. The subject is presented 
in clear and simple language, and will 
be found adapted to the comprehen- 
sion of young pupils, at a time when 
they particularly need an insight into 
the laws which govern the moral 
H'orld. 



"Tc^e^^^n^-^ 



ROADS AND RAILROADS. 



Gillespie s Roads and Railroads. 

Tenih Edition. Edited bv Cadv Stalcv, A.M., C.E. 46i pages. 12mo. Cloth. 

Tliis l)ook has loni: been and sti'll is the standard manual of the principles and practice ot 
Road-making, comprising the location, construction, and improvement of roads (common, 
macad;vn, {nved, plank, &.c.) and railroads. '" '"'^ '"' ^'^" 

C.E., uf Union College. 

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It was compiled by Wm. Gillespie, LL.D., 



BULLETIN OF IfEW PUBLICATIONS. 



LIBRARY. 

Sixty Years in the Harvest Field. 



63 pages. 13rao. Cloth. 

well. This volume is the plain, truthful 
narrative of a long life-work in guiding souls 
to tiie Saviour. It will be helpful to all 
who labor at the best trade in the world, — 
the trade of making Christians." 



By Havilah Mowry, Jr., City Missionary. 
Dk. Theo. L. Cutlee sai/s : 

" There is always room in this world for 
one more book which tells the refreshing 
story of winning souls to Jesus. For more 
than twenty years I have known Mr. Mowry 

Hero of Cowpens. 

Ey Miss Rebecca McConkey. 310 pages. 

Military and historical criticisms from 
Gen. U. S. Gkant, Geu. W. T. Shekman, 
and Hon. Geo. Bancroft : — 

" I have read the book with very great 
interest. It gave me a clearer insight into 
the l)attle of Cowpens than anything I had 
read before, and a clearer view of the early 
perfidy of Arnold than anytliing I had yet 
seen. The whole book interested me." — 
U. S. Grant. 

How Not to Teach. 

By Wm. M. Griffin, A.M., Principal of the Training School, Newark, N. J., and author of 
Griffin's ** Number Charts," &c. 84 pages. 16mo. Cloth, 35 cents. 

This book meets a want universally felt among young teachers who have their experience 
in teaching to learn. It undertakes to point out the many natural mistakes into which 
teachers, unconsciously or otherwise, fall, and M'^arns the reader against dangers that beset 
the path of every conscientious teacher. It tells the reader, also, the proper and acceptable 
M-ay to teach, illustrating the author's ideas by some praetice-iessona in arithmetic (after 
Gviibe). 



12mo. Cloth. 

" I think this volume does more to show 
the history of his times, and the claim of 
Gen. Morgan to the title of Hero, than any 
similar volume of which I have knowledge. 
I commend it to all lovers of the country, 
and of the history we have inherited." — W. 
T. Sherman. 

"This volume deserves success, — lively 
in style, patriotic in purpose, and manifest- 
ing an honest pursuit of truth." — Geo. 
Bancroft. 



ANATOMY. 



Anatomical Technology as Applied to the Domestic 
Cat. 

An introduction to human, veterinary, and comparative anatomy. A practical work for 
students and teachers. 600 pages. 130 "figures, and 4 lithograph plates. By Burt G. Wilder 
and Simon H. Gage, Professors in Cornell University. 



"Instructions in the best method of dis- 
section and study of each organ and region." 

— American Veterinary Review. 

" A valuable manual, at once authorita- 
tivein statement and admirable in method." 

— American Journal of Medical Science. 

" Well adapted to the purpose for which it 
has been written." — Nature. 



" The student who will carefully dissect 
a few cats according to the rules 'gi\ en in 
this book will have a great advantage over 
the one who begins his work with the hu- 
man body, and if he will master the instruc- 
tions for the various methods of preparation, 
he will know more than most graduates in 
medicine." — The Boston Medical and Sur-. 
gical Journal. 



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